Motorist Shoots 2 Teen Suspects, Kills 1 : Violence: The two girls apparently tried to rob him at gunpoint after he gave them a ride, authorities say. The driver was wounded and is in critical condition.

An apparent armed robbery attempt by two teen-age girls backfired early Tuesday when the motorist the two had flagged down for a ride in South Gate pulled his own gun and fired, killing one 15-year-old suspect and slightly wounding her 14-year-old companion, authorities said.

The 60-year-old motorist was critically wounded in an exchange of gunfire with one of the girls, Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide detectives said.

They estimated that as many as 10 shots were fired during the 1:30 a.m. incident that horrified residents in the 10300 block of Elizabeth Avenue, a quiet blue-collar neighborhood.

“I’m shocked that the young girls were trying to rob an old guy,” said Ted Ryback, who called police after hearing the shooting outside his front door. “It’s something to see a young girl like that die in your driveway.”

His wife, Lana, said: “Maybe we should move back to Montana.”

Detectives said they did not know what prompted the attack, but said that the two teen-agers were members of a Compton-area street gang.

At first, it was believed that the girls were the victims of a drive-by shooting. Later, detectives discovered that the two had intended to rob the motorist.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Larry Mead said Chris Escamilla of Huntington Park was driving in the vicinity of Long Beach Boulevard and Norton Avenue in Lynwood when he was flagged down by the girls. He agreed to give the two a ride to Elizabeth Avenue in South Gate, five blocks away.

Upon arrival, one of the suspects--later identified as Margaret Gonzalez, 15, of Compton, who was sitting in the front seat--brandished a .25-caliber semiautomatic handgun and demanded money and Escamilla’s blue Cadillac Coupe de Ville, Mead said.

Escamilla then produced a .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun and pointed it at the girl, the spokesman said.

“Gonzalez fired one shot at Escamilla, striking him in the back,” Mead said.

The motorist then fired several rounds, striking the girl three times in the upper body, Mead said.

Gonzalez’s 14-year-old companion--whose identity was not released because of her age--was sitting unarmed in the back seat and apparently went to the aid of her friend, Mead said. When the younger girl opened the front passenger-side door, she was wounded in the foot by Escamilla, he said.

“I’ve been shot!” was all Ryback and the other neighbors could hear from one of the girls.

After the shooting stopped, Escamilla sped home to Huntington Park. From there, an unidentified friend drove him to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, where he was in critical condition late Tuesday, officials said.

After calling authorities, neighbors rushed outside their homes to find the Gonzalez girl bleeding to death in Ryback’s driveway and her companion sitting on the curb crying.

The girls were taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, where Gonzalez was pronounced dead.

The 14-year-old was treated at the hospital and released. The girl then went to South Gate police headquarters, where she turned herself in. She was questioned by Sheriff’s Department investigators, who were called in by South Gate police.

Mead said the girl was booked on suspicion of murder, because a person died during the commission of a crime, and attempted robbery. She was being held late Tuesday by juvenile authorities.