VAN NUYS : Gang Suspect Held in Youth’s Slaying

Gunshots in a Van Nuys neighborhood early Thursday morning led detectives to a suspect in last week’s shooting death of a 16-year-old North Hollywood youth.

Officers were staking out several locations near Fulton Avenue and Sherman Way, looking for Ray Martinez, 20, when gunfire erupted nearby, said Los Angeles Police Detective Charles Uribe.

Officers saw two men run into an apartment on the 6900 block of Fulton Street, Uribe said.

When officers asked occupants to step outside, they found Martinez among them, Uribe said.

There were no arrests related to the report of gunfire.

Martinez was taken into custody at about 1:30 a.m. and charged with murder and robbery in the shooting death of Marlon Gutierrez of North Hollywood.

Gutierrez and a friend had been walking on the 12500 block of Vanowen Street at about 11 p.m. last Friday when a group of men robbed them at gunpoint. Gutierrez was shot when he tried to walk away, police said.

Detectives believe Martinez is a member of a branch of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, Uribe said. They believe the gunfire that led officers to Martinez may have come from a rival gang.