Shotgun Assailant Wounds Passing Motorist, Job Hunter

A job-hunting Fresno man and a passing maintenance worker were wounded Friday when an unknown assailant opened fire with a shotgun in a parking lot on a busy commercial street, police and witnesses said.

Los Angeles police said both victims are expected to survive the 3:05 p.m. shooting outside 20146 Saticoy St. that sent workers in the stores adjoining the parking lot diving for cover.

Ronald Merriweather, 19, of Fresno, was shot in the face and was told by doctors at Northridge Hospital Medical Center that he might lose an eye, according to a relative.

Merriweather’s aunt, Rosalind Graham, said her nephew was walking down Saticoy Street when the armed man appeared from behind a taco stand and blasted him with shotgun pellets. “He doesn’t even live here,” Graham said of her nephew. “He came down here trying to look for work.”

Police were attempting to sort out numerous conflicting reports of what happened before the gunman sprayed the parking lot, but said the incident did not appear to be gang-related. Investigators think that an argument among several men precipitated the shooting.

Police questioned the participants in the argument Friday night, said LAPD Officer Don Cox, a police spokesman.

Three men were arrested on accusations stemming from “the disturbance that precipitated what was going on at the time of the shooting,” Cox said.

They were identified as Donte Lee Dailey, 20, of Woodland Hills, accused of making terrorist threats and ordered held on $150,000 bail; Keith Durr, of Woodland Hills, held on $20,000 bail on suspicion of felony battery, and Toriano Williams, 24, of an unknown address, held on suspicion of narcotics possession.

None of those arrested were accused of firing the shots. Cox said investigators would not reveal why they were arrested or what role they played in the events leading up to the shooting until the investigation is completed.

From behind the counter of the courier company where she works, Rosalina Puerto, 22, said she saw two men heatedly arguing in the parking lot’s driveway. One of the men left for several minutes, returned with the shotgun and started shooting near the crowded sidewalk, Puerto said.

Paramedics called to the scene to treat Merriweather did not learn of the second victim until almost half an hour later. He was found about a block away from the parking lot and authorities initially were unsure the two shootings were related, Los Angeles Fire Department officials said.

Several stray pellets apparently wounded the man, who was “driving down the street minding his own business and had nothing to do with it,” Cox said.

Police declined to identify the man, who was wounded in the arm and elbow.

Both victims were taken to the Northridge hospital. Merriweather was later scheduled to undergo surgery at UCLA Medical Center, his aunt said.

Times staff writer Efrain Hernandez Jr. and correspondent Kate Folmar contributed to this story.