Judge Orders Simi Man Tried for Murder : Court: Victor G. Ramirez is accused of shooting to death Armando Rodriguez. Police say the two, both 19, were members of rival gangs.

The two Simi Valley teen-agers recounted walking across a bridge over the Arroyo Simi with their friend, Armando Rodriguez. Suddenly, another youth rode by on a bicycle, pulled out a gun and fatally shot Rodriguez, they said.

*

Their testimony Monday helped persuade a Municipal Court judge to order 19-year-old Victor G. Ramirez of Simi Valley to stand trial for murder.

Rodriguez, 19, was shot once in the chest just after 11:30 a.m. April 1 as he and the two witnesses walked home after working out at a local gym, according to authorities and testimony at the preliminary hearing. Prosecutors said they are not sure what event, if any, prompted the shooting.

Julio Moran testified that he was crossing a bridge that spans the Arroyo Simi with Rodriguez and another teen-ager when the shooting occurred. Moran said his group could see the defendant, Ramirez, riding toward them but did not anticipate any trouble.

“He reached down in his pants and pulled out a gun,” Moran, 19, said under questioning from Deputy Dist. Atty. Roger Inman. “He just shot, that’s all, and he kept on going.”

The second, 16-year-old witness who was with the victim on the bridge at 1st Street near Los Angeles Avenue gave a similar version of events. Both witnesses denied previous reports that Rodriguez flashed gang signs at Ramirez before the shooting.

Ramirez, who was ordered held in lieu of $250,000 bail, is charged with one count of murder and using a firearm.

He wore a blank expression throughout the hearing, as five witnesses took the stand. One witness, 21-year-old Joseph Daneman, said that Ramirez came to his house after the shooting.

Daneman said the defendant handed him a Colt .22-caliber handgun and a canister of bullets.

“He just said he shot somebody and said he didn’t know what was going on,” said Daneman, who eventually gave the gun to another person, who turned the weapon over to police.

Daneman described Ramirez as dazed and confused. After Ramirez turned himself in to police and was booked into the County Jail, he declined to speak with his court-appointed attorney and was placed on suicide watch.

In court, the two witnesses walking with Rodriguez said they are not gang members and do not have any gang affiliations. They also said that to the best of their knowledge, Rodriguez did not belong to a gang.

But authorities have identified Rodriguez and the defendant as rival gang members. After the shooting, Simi Valley police stepped up their gang suppression efforts, fearing the incident would spark other violence in retaliation.

Police reported several skirmishes between rival gangs in the aftermath of the shooting, including an incident in which one boy was beaten with a baseball bat. That boy recovered and his assailant has been convicted of assault.

Deputy Public Defender Gary Windom said Monday that Ramirez is now fully cooperating with his defense.

Judge John E. Dobroth, who found there was sufficient evidence to order Ramirez to trial, set a June 19 arraignment.

Simi Valley Police Officer Rich Rinehart also testified at Monday’s preliminary hearing. He told the judge that he tried to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation to the victim to no avail.