2 Hurt in Gang Shooting at County Rehabilitation Center

The gang rivalries that have helped fill Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center with disabled gunshot victims erupted on the grounds of the Downey hospital when two visitors were shot in a courtyard.

Police arrested 10 males after the Saturday afternoon shooting broke out among gang members visiting patients in the county rehabilitation center. A hospital official said one man was wounded in the foot and another in the back.

Fifteen to 20 people were in the courtyard when four shots were fired, apparently with one or more handguns.

In recent years, patients at the 400-bed facility have included a large number of people disabled in gang-related shootings, many of whom are permanently paralyzed to some extent.

Gang hostilities have at times spilled into the medical center--a staff member once saw paraplegic gang members fighting in their wheelchairs--but chief operating officer Susumu Yokoyama said this was the first shooting in his 13 years at the center.

“We’ve had good controls and recognition by gangs that this is a hospital where they’re treated, that it’s neutral territory,” Yokoyama said Sunday.

The center’s staff separates patients belonging to rival gangs and is stepping up security patrols in the wake of the shooting, Yokoyama added. He said other security measures will be discussed, including installing metal detectors, although their use would be difficult at the sprawling complex.

The suspects were booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, according to Downey police. The shooting victims, a 19-year-old man and a 27-year-old man, were reported in stable condition.