Gang Member Charged in Freeway Shooting That Wounded Boy
An 18-year-old gang member accused of wounding a Whittier boy in a freeway shooting was charged Monday with one count of attempted murder and one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle, authorities said.
Leo Javier Burgos of Los Angeles is scheduled to be arraigned April 22 in Compton in the shooting of Richard Bautista, according to the district attorney’s office. Bail was set at $3.31 million.
“It was alleged that the victim suffered great bodily injury and that [Burgos] used a handgun in the crime,” said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.
Burgos turned himself in to police Thursday after homicide detectives served warrants to other members of Burgos’ gang, who also have been implicated in the Sept. 22 shooting, police said.
Burgos allegedly admitted to police that he was the gunman in the “thrill shooting” in which Richard, who was 12 at the time, suffered a severe gunshot wound to the head as the boy was traveling home on the Harbor Freeway from a night game at Dodger Stadium.
Richard, now 13, has little control of his motor skills and has painful muscle spasms, doctors said.
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