Police Hold 1 Suspect in Girl’s Shooting
An 18-year-old local man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with a drive-by shooting that left a young girl wounded, police said.
Gamaliel Avila of Orange was arrested in an early morning search of his home in the 200 block of South Esplanade Street and was being held at Orange County Jail on Tuesday night in lieu of $250,000 bail, according to Orange Police Lt. Ed Tunstall.
Avila is suspected of being the gunman in a blue Honda Civic who fired a single shot Monday at another car while both drove west on Chapman Avenue, just east of Tustin Avenue, police said. Investigators are still seeking a second suspect.
The victim, who has not been identified, was shot in the right thigh about 9:20 p.m. while she was sitting in the passenger seat. No one else was injured, but an 8-year-old girl was among the other four passengers, police said.
Police are investigating the shooting as a gang-related crime. The second suspect is described as male Latino in his early 20s, about 5-feet-8 and 150 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.
Police have not recovered the .25-caliber, semiautomatic handgun nor the blue Honda Civic with a hatchback, Tunstall said. Anyone with information is asked to call Orange police investigators at (714) 744-7403.
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