3 Members of Gang Held, 1 Sought in Fatal Party Shooting : Crime: ‘People in the community’ gave tips leading to the suspects, police say. A couple were mowed down by 30 shots from weapons including an AK-47 assault rifle.

An around-the-clock investigation has resulted in the arrests of three gang members in connection with the shooting of a young couple at an outdoor birthday party Feb. 3, police said Wednesday.

Police Chief Paul M. Walters said Joel Davalos was shot to death and his wife, Sylvia, was critically wounded because roving members of F Troop, one of the city’s largest gangs, saw the couple and mistakenly assumed that they were from a rival gang.

The couple were mowed down by 30 shots from weapons that included a military-style AK-47 assault rifle, Walters said.

At a press conference, Walters and Capt. Bruce R. Carlson said the victims, both 21 and teachers’ aides, were taken by surprise and totally innocent.

“Those people have no involvement in gangs,” Carlson said. “The suspects fired at them without warning.

“We’ve been working hard on this case--working around the clock because of the senselessness of this shooting,” he said.

The three suspects were identified as Artemio Rios, 21; Ronald Azevedo, 19, and Luis Plascencia, 19, all of Santa Ana. They were arrested without incident Monday after police obtained search warrants for 10 homes here.

They are being held on $250,000 bail each at Orange County Jail on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and use of an assault rifle.

A fourth suspect, identified as Joseph Florencio Arvizu, 19, remains at large, Carlson said.

He said Arvizu has a star tattoo on his left ear and the letters F on his right shoulder and T on his left shoulder.

“Arvizu is considered armed and dangerous, and extreme caution should be used if he is contacted,” Carlson said.

Police received tips from “people in the community” about the identity of the four suspects, he said, then officers obtained search warrants for residences where the men were believed to be hanging out.

The searches resulted in the recovery of “evidence of gang involvement” and the seizure of 10 weapons, some of which are believed to have been used in the shooting, Carlson said. The weapons were: three AK-47 assault rifles, one 9-millimeter assault pistol, three shotguns, two automatic pistols and one .22-caliber assault rifle.

The shooting took place about 12:30 a.m. on Feb. 3 on the rear patio at 316 S. Flower St. The Davaloses were attending an outdoor birthday party there and were with another couple, who escaped injury.

Carlson said the four suspects “were driving around the neighborhood, and they observed people out in the yard.”

The men then approached the party from a rear alley and began firing without asking questions or giving warning, he said.

Davalos, who worked as a teacher’s aide at Santa Ana’s Jackson Elementary School, was killed instantly in the fusillade. His wife, a special education assistant at Willard Intermediate School here, remains hospitalized in critical condition, Carlson said, with one of her kidneys destroyed.

Police said the arrests were not announced until Wednesday because officers were gathering evidence.

Arvizu, the man still at large, is about 5 feet, 7 inches and 180 pounds, with hazel eyes and “light-brown hair that is almost blond or strawberry,” Carlson said.

Anyone with information about Arvizu’s whereabouts is asked to call the police gang unit at (714) 647-5146.