Three Youths Killed by Gang Gunfire

A rash of apparently unrelated gang shootings has left three people dead, including a 16-year-old in Watts and another teen-ager in Pomona, authorities said Thursday.

A suspected gang member shot and killed Jesus Aceves, 16, as he walked with two friends along Imperial Highway in Watts about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, police said. Witnesses told police the gunman shot Aceves from the passenger seat of a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, which sped from the scene.

The teen-ager was rushed to Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital/Drew Medical Center, where he died a short time later. His friends were unharmed.

In Pomona, Richard Sanchez, 18, was hit by a shotgun blast from a passing van as he walked with a friend at Barjud and Celia streets on Wednesday, police said. Sanchez was taken to Pomona Valley Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His companion was not injured.

A 20-year-old man was shot and killed in the Echo Park area at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday when members of a rival gang pulled up to his car near Tularose Drive and Marathon Street and opened fire, police said. The victim, whose identity was not released, died at Queen of Angels’ Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center.

Gang violence also broke out in Hollywood, where a teen-ager was wounded on a busy street, and a gunman fired into a crowded restaurant.

A 16-year-old was shot in the thigh Wednesday afternoon outside the Hollywood Wilshire YMCA, near Selma and Hudson avenues, police said. The shooting took place in front of a large lunchtime crowd and sparked panic, said Detective Chuck Henry, a gang investigator. “Words were exchanged, the gun was fired and everybody fled,” he said.

Gunfire also erupted at 10 p.m. Wednesday outside a Denny’s restaurant on Vermont Avenue, sending dozens of customers scurrying for cover as a bullet pierced the restaurant’s window, investigators said. No one was injured, and no arrests were made, police said.

In a death police said may not be gang-related, the charred remains of a man were found in a car near the Pomona High School campus. A shotgun was found in the car, but it has not been determined if the weapon was the cause of death, police said. Investigators have not identified the man.