Teen-Ager Killed, Toddler Wounded in 2 Shootings

Two street shootings within 12 hours left a high school student dead and a 2-year-old boy clinging to life Friday after he was hit in the head by gunfire.

Jose Luis Lopez, 17, was driving to school Friday morning with two other youths when a lone gunman ambushed his car before fleeing on foot, said Police Lt. Robert Helton.

Standing in the median of a street, the killer fired a single shot into the driver’s window and hit Lopez in the head. A 17-year-old identified only as a reputed gang member was arrested later at his home for investigation of the killing, Helton said.

Friends said Lopez, a soccer player who had planned to go to college, was not a gang member but may have run afoul of a street gang.

After he was hit, Lopez’s car traveled about 50 feet and crashed into a pole, said Sgt. Art Echternacht. The two passengers, Lopez’s brother and cousin, were not seriously hurt, Echternacht said.

In a shooting Thursday night, Esteban Zavala Martinez was hit as he was carried in his father’s arms as his parents walked home from a haircut appointment.

Police said a gunman leaned from a crowded car and fired once from a small-caliber handgun, striking the 2-year-old in the head.

Eva Martinez said she screamed at the sight of her injured child and then heard one of the car’s passengers yell at her, “Shut up! Shut up!” as the white, older model Monte Carlo drove off.

The toddler’s 29-year-old father, Alfonso Martinez, was not injured, said Helton.

Associated Press contributed to this story.