Man Dies in Pacoima ‘Rave’ Party Shooting

A Sunland man was shot to death and two others were wounded when an underground “rave” party attended by more than 100 people grew violent, Los Angeles police said Thursday.

Luis Miguel Cespedes, 21, was shot several times late Wednesday at the party in the 11800 block of Borden Avenue in Pacoima, Officer Carlos Solano said. He died about 1 a.m Thursday at Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, where he was driven by friends, police said.

Rave parties are large gatherings where the participants dance to techno-pop disco music and often use nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, and Ecstasy, a hallucinogenic drug.

Such parties, which are attended by thousands of young people every weekend, are usually held in warehouses or outdoors. While nitrous oxide is peddled illegally in balloons and other illicit drugs are sold, raves are generally not considered violent events, authorities said.

In March, three Chatsworth youths were asphyxiated in the sealed cab of a pickup truck after inhaling nitrous oxide, which they had obtained earlier at a rave party.

Wednesday’s party was held at a rented house in a block that is a mix of industrial and residential buildings, police said. That block is not known as a gang hangout.

“Until the shooting went down there was no prior complaint there,” Lt. David E. Baca said.

The party, which was advertised in flyers, was peaceful until about 11 p.m. when a group of suspected gang members arrived, Lt. Wayne Woolway said.

Cespedes attended the event with about 100 other party-goers, who paid admission, police said. He was attacked by a group who apparently mistook him for a rival gang member, Solano said.

Members of the group surrounded Cespedes, who was not believed to belong to a gang, and at least six people began beating him, police said.

While Cespedes was being beaten, one of his attackers pulled out a handgun and fired six to 10 shots, wounding the victim and two other people, Woolway said.

The gunman and his friends fled, Solano said, and were still at large late Thursday.

Police said the two other victims were not seriously injured, but they would not release their identities or any information about them.