SUN VALLEY : Police Seek Killers Who Shot Man

Los Angeles police are searching for the killers of a Sun Valley man who was gunned down while walking home from a friend’s house, authorities said Thursday.

Erick Bustamante, 21, had left his friend’s Burbank home on Jan. 28, and was chased for two blocks on Burbank Boulevard by about six gang members. He was shot several times in the upper body when his assailants caught up to him at Satsuma Avenue, said Detective Gil Uribe of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Bustamante died just after the 2:20 a.m. shooting, Uribe said.

“It was just a cold-blooded murder,” Uribe said. “The suspects didn’t steal anything. They just disappeared and left no evidence.”

The Bustamante family has been in close contact with investigators, hoping something will break in the case or a witness will come forward.

“We are trying to do whatever we can to help find my brother’s killer,” said Kathy Bustamante, the victim’s sister. “We call the detectives every day and are trying to figure out who did it ourselves.”

“We just want justice to be served,” she said. “There is no reason for a 21-year-old man to be shot and killed like that.”

Kathy said her brother was a semi-professional soccer player who worked at a furniture store and had many friends and few, if any, enemies. He graduated from Notre Dame High School in 1992 and was not a member of any gang, she said.

The gang members “may have known him though, from around the neighborhood,” Uribe said.

Uribe said a reward will be given to anyone who gives information leading to the arrest of Bustamante’s killers. The North Hollywood detective unit can be reached at (818) 756-8831.