Gunmen Fire Into Party--7 Hurt, Man Dies in Fall

Two suspected gang members who were turned away when they tried to enter a private birthday party in Echo Park early Sunday retaliated by opening fire on the guests, wounding six men and a 2-year-old who had been dancing with his father, police said.

A seventh man, who apparently was pushed off an upper-floor balcony by the panicked crowd, was found dead. He was identified as Jorge Herrera, 24.

The toddler, Anthony Barron, was hit in the arm in the 12:30 a.m. incident. He was listed in good condition at Childrens Hospital, officials said.

The other shooting victims, including the boy’s father, Joe, 24, were treated at hospitals. None had life-threatening wounds, police said.

“The apparent motive will be gang retaliation in that several gang members tried to join the party earlier (in the) evening and were rejected,” said Police Lt. Loren Zimmerman.

The men crept up to the back of the house and burst onto a patio, Zimmerman said, firing randomly at party-goers with a shotgun and a 9-millimeter pistol.

The gunmen, said to be in their 20s, fled. They remained at large, police said.

Sunday night, gunfire exchanged by gang members in South-Central Los Angeles left a 13-year-old boy dead and a young man wounded, police said.

Paramedics pronounced the teen-ager dead at the scene following the 8:50 p.m. shooting, Sgt. Terri Tatreau said.

A 19-year-old male shot in the leg and shoulder was transported to California Medical Center where he was undergoing surgery, she said.

The names of the victims were not released, Tatreau said.