3 Arrested in Series of Shootings : Violence: Police link suspects to gang attacks in harbor area. Eight people were wounded in one night this week.

Three members of a Wilmington gang were arrested by Los Angeles police Friday in the drive-by shootings of eight people Wednesday, which authorities said was one of the most violent nights in the history of the harbor area.

Jay Lopez, 18, was booked on suspicion of attempted murder at the Harbor Division jail in San Pedro. Two juveniles, ages 16 and 17, were booked on suspicion of attempted murder at a county juvenile facility. Police, who identified all three as gang members, said they were searching for a another juvenile suspect.

“We got some good leads from the community and some from the gang contacts our detectives had, and it just fell in place,” said Lt. Sol Hoyos. “We wanted to pick up the shooters before the pay-backs.”

The shootings, police said, are part of an increase in gang violence in the harbor communities of Wilmington, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway and San Pedro. The Harbor Division ranked third among the Los Angeles Police Department’s 18 divisions in gang crime last year.

There were more than 720 felony crimes and 21 killings in the Harbor area in 1991, a sharp increase from the 591 felonies and 14 slayings the previous year.

Wednesday night’s shooting rampage began about 9 p.m., when a 16-year-old Harbor City youth was hit twice by gunfire from a passing car. He suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries.

A few minutes later, an unidentified youth was shot in San Pedro. He was treated at a hospital and released.

At 9:20 p.m., three reputed gang members were shot on the streets of East Wilmington, in a high-crime neighborhood known as Ghost Town. The youths were struck by bullets from at least two gunmen in a slow-moving car.

One youth, a 16-year-old from Wilmington, was hit in the chest and was in critical condition at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. His two companions, an unidentified 17-year-old and David Garcia, 18, suffered minor injuries, police said.

The gunmen traveled a few blocks east and opened fire on three other youths. Manuel Muratalla, 20, was struck in the chest and was in guarded condition at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach. Raymond Esparza, 19, and an unidentified 16-year-old also were hit and were treated for minor injuries at the hospital and released.

A few blocks away, the gunmen sprayed bullets at Joe Alvarez, 18, who escaped injury by diving behind his car.