Student Is Charged in Marshall High Shootings

Charges were filed Monday against the youth accused of shooting two students at Marshall High School on Friday. The victims, meanwhile, recuperated at home.

Eleventh-grader Yohao Albert Rivas, 18, was being held in lieu of $85,000 bail, charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Police say Rivas fired a 9-millimeter handgun at junior Alex Merida and senior Angela Hernandez, striking both in the legs, and at a third student, who was not injured and who witnesses said was the intended target of the shooting.

Because the shooting took place in a stairwell on campus, Rivas also was charged with possessing and discharging a firearm on school grounds, both felonies under the Gun-Free School Zone Act.

Merida’s injuries were minor and he was released from Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital the day of the shooting. Hernandez’s leg was broken by a bullet; she was kept at the hospital overnight and released Saturday in a cast.

Rivas was one of two students detained Friday within minutes of the shooting. They were identified after they rushed into their sixth-period English class, where the handgun was later found hidden. The second suspect was released after witnesses reported seeing only Rivas at the scene at the Los Feliz school.

Although the investigation is continuing, Deputy Dist. Atty. James Jacobs said Monday that the shooting appeared to be gang-related.

In the wake of the violence, concerns were raised both inside and outside Marshall High about the thoroughness of the school’s searches for weapons. A memo from Principal Steve Quon, delivered to staff members Monday, expressed concern that students have since reported that guns are numerous on campus, but that they fear retaliation if they report them.