1 Slain in Suspected Gang Feud

One man was killed and two women were pursued by a gunman this week in Atwater Village incidents that police blamed on a gang feud.

Richard Rivera, 25, of Atwater was hit by one bullet in the chest at 3:30 a.m. Sunday in a drive-by shooting in the 4000 block of Bemis Street, Los Angeles Police Detective Ron Whitt said. Rivera died Monday morning at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

Whitt said Rivera was standing with several acquaintances when he was shot with a pistol fired from a passing white Volkswagen. He said the shooting appeared to be gang-related.

At 1:15 a.m. Monday on Perlita Avenue between Glendale Boulevard and Minneapolis Street, two women riding in a white car similar to the one seen at the Rivera shooting were chased and fired at by a gunman in another vehicle, Whitt said. The women’s car was hit, but they were uninjured, he said.

Whitt said officers arrested Michael Quintanilla, 18, of Atwater in connection with the second incident. Investigators believe that Quintanilla fired in retaliation for Rivera’s shooting, but Whitt said the women are not affiliated with a gang and were not involved in the earlier incident.