SAN PEDRO : Sour Drug Deal Triggered Triple Murder, Police Say

Los Angeles detectives on Thursday said that a shootout in San Pedro in which three men were killed and another wounded was triggered by a drug deal that went awry. It ended with four men exchanging gunfire about 10:45 a.m. Wednesday.

“It was quite a bloody scene,” said Sgt. Larry Kallestad. “We’re not at a point yet where we can say who’s gun killed who, but we’re beginning to understand what happened there.”

Killed in the shootout was Jose Ortega, 47, who lived on the 500 block of Santa Cruz Street; David Delgado, 31, of Compton, and a third man who remains unidentified. Ortega’s brother, Jesus Castillo, of Fontana was wounded in the attack and was being held in the jail ward at County-USC Medical Center. Castillo was arrested on suspicion of murder, police said. Investigators discovered a kilo of cocaine and several pounds of marijuana at the scene.