EAST LOS ANGELES : 2 Fatal Shootings on Same Block in 2 Days

A 13-year-old walking home from school was gunned down last week when he was caught in the middle of a drive-by shooting.

Carlos Chavez, an eighth-grader at Hollenbeck Junior High School, was walking in the 2800 block of Wynwood Lane at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday when several shots from a semiautomatic handgun were fired from a passing car. Police said Carlos was hit once in the head and died at County-USC Medical Center. No one else was injured.

A day later, 23-year-old Jesus Mora, who police say is a gang member, was arrested in the shooting. Carlos was not a gang member, police said.

Mora allegedly planned the shooting in retaliation for the slaying of his brother, Angel Mora, who was killed the day before, according to police Detective Ben Lovato of the Hollenbeck Division.

Angel Mora was also standing in the 2800 block of Wynwood Lane when a man with a shotgun walked up and fired several shots. Javier Hernandez, 20, was arrested last week in the slaying of Angel Mora, Lovato said.

Police said the Wyvernwood section of East Los Angeles is plagued with gang warfare. “If you look at the outside apartment walls, “ Lovato said, “you can see bullets holes everywhere.”