Errant Gang Bullets Kill 12-Year-Old : Crime: Gunmen were apparently aiming for a teen-ager who dashed into a crowd of children for safety. The youth was also wounded and remains hospitalized.

When his eldest son, Carlos, was wounded in a drive-by shooting two years ago, Alejandro Garibay wanted to move his wife and six children out of their gang-ridden Wilmington neighborhood. But they could not afford to leave.

Their problem turned tragic Tuesday night when Garibay’s youngest son, Gabriel, was killed by gang gunfire in front of the family’s home, Los Angeles police said Friday.

“You used to be able to walk in this neighborhood at night,” said Garibay, who has lived in the modest triplex for about seven years. “But you can’t do it today.”

Gabriel Garibay, 12, was riding his bike and playing with several children in front of the house in the 1200 block of Eubank Avenue about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, police said. A car sped up and two men--one with a stocking over his head and the other wearing a ghoulish Halloween mask--jumped out and fired at the children with large-caliber handguns.

Police said the men were aiming at Antonio Longoria, 19, an alleged gang member who was walking down the street with his girlfriend.

Longoria and his girlfriend dashed into the crowd of children for safety when they saw the masked men, Garibay family members said. Before the gunmen sped off, they shouted gang slogans and fired toward the group 15 to 20 times while Gabriel’s father tried to hide the frightened children behind his parked van.

Longoria was hit in the thigh and groin, police said. He remains hospitalized in stable condition. Police say he will not be charged in connection with the shooting.

One shot struck Gabriel in the lower abdomen. He was rushed to St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, where he died in surgery, family members said.

Police said they have no suspects in custody.

On Friday afternoon, several neighborhood children played on the Garibays’ neatly trimmed lawn as the dead boy’s somber relatives watched. The van, still parked in front of the beige triplex, and the motor home beside it were riddled with bullet holes.

Maria Garibay, Gabriel’s cousin, shook her head. “They have to move out of here,” she said.

But with more than $18,000 in Gabriel’s hospital bills, prospects for leaving still look grim.

“It’s going to be even harder than before,” she said.