HAWTHORNE : Gunmen Shoot 2 in Attempted Carjacking
Three Hawthorne residents, just home from a late-night soccer match, were attacked by four men last week in what police believe was an attempted carjacking.
Carlos Cruz, Pedro Placensia and Abraham Segura-Ramirez has just arrived at their parking garage on Yukon Avenue in Ramirez’s 1979 red Chevrolet Malibu when they were attacked.
None of the three men speak English, and police say the language barrier may have led to the Dec. 15 shooting.
Cruz, 17, and Placensia, 25, were each shot twice when they failed to comply with the gunmen’s demands to get out of the car, said Hawthorne Police Lt. Arvid Kruger. Ramirez, 18, said he understood enough English to get out quickly, and he was not injured.
Cruz was shot in the left leg, and Placensia in his right arm and leg. Both were taken to local hospitals, treated and released, said the assistant manager of the apartment complex where the shooting took place.
The gunmen fled after the shootings, and are still at large. Two of the men were armed with semiautomatic pistols, said Hawthorne Police Detective John Lay.
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