Police Seek Gang Member in 2 Fatal Shootings : Crime: The suspect is accused in a killing at a junior high school and a second slaying about two hours later.

A Panorama City gang member described as “armed and dangerous” was being sought by police Saturday in connection with two fatal shootings Wednesday, one outside a Sherman Oaks junior high school.

Salvador Humberto Funes, 20, whose gang name is “Blackie” or “Negro,” was identified by Van Nuys Division homicide detectives as the prime suspect in the two slayings, which occurred about two hours apart.

Alejandro Penaloza, 14, of North Hollywood was gunned down as he stood in front of Robert A. Millikan Junior High School after classes had been dismissed. Jose Granados, 18, of Van Nuys was shot while fixing his car on a Van Nuys street. Both were gang members, police said.

Detective Jim Vojtecky said police went to Funes’ house early Saturday with an arrest warrant, but he was not there. Funes’ mother, who also lives at the house, was “very cooperative” but did not know his whereabouts, Vojtecky said.

A white pickup truck that was used during the shootings was found by police Friday on the 8600 block of Columbus Avenue in Van Nuys. Vojtecky said witnesses saw several people begin to spray-paint the truck gray in an attempt to alter its appearance.

Vojtecky added that Funes was seen Friday evening in Van Nuys with other gang members.

“We feel he is still in the area, and we’re hoping to get the word out on him,” he said.

Although both victims in the Wednesday shootings were gang members, Vojtecky said there was “no apparent reason” for the shootings.

The naming of a suspect in the shootings was of little comfort Saturday to those associated with Millikan Junior High School. Some said the gang problems that prompted the shootings still exist.

“There are still a lot of gang members out there, and they may be upset about whatever started this in the first place,” said Pam Maury, president of the Millikan Parents-Teachers-Students Assn. “The priority now is to secure our school and the community. This made us realize that Sherman Oaks is not as safe as we thought it was.”

The shooting outside Millikan Junior High School, a peaceful suburban campus that prides itself on polite, high-achieving students, shocked youngsters and parents, who started patrolling the campus in an effort to deter further violence.

Police said Alejandro was standing in front of the school on the corner of Magnolia Boulevard and Sunnyslope Avenue with several friends at 3:30 p.m. when at least two men in a lowered white pickup truck pulled up and called him over.

Alejandro and the truck’s passengers exchanged gang signs, and then Alejandro was shot in the chest, Vojtecky said. He was taken to Medical Center of North Hollywood, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Two hours and 15 minutes later, Granados and a friend were working on a disabled car on Noble Avenue near Vanowen Street when a white truck with a camper shell drove up, Vojtecky said. The passengers flashed gang signs, and then Funes shot Granados, he said. Granados was carried by his friend approximately 100 feet to Valley Presbyterian Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, he said.

The small-caliber weapons used in the shootings have not been recovered, Vojtecky said.

Police initially did not link the two shootings, saying that different vehicles had been observed at the two shooting sites. But Vojtecky said the camper shell was not on the truck during the shooting at the junior high school.