Northridge Youth Shot; 2 Suspects Arrested

A 17-year-old Northridge youth was listed in critical condition Saturday in a shooting police said was gang-related.

The victim, shot in the upper body, was identified as Procer Francisco, said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Mike Sonntag of the Devonshire Division.

Police arrested two men they believed to be gang members in connection with the attack, Sonntag said. The suspects were identified as Jeffrey Pham, 20, of Reseda and Tho Han, 21, of Van Nuys.

Sonntag said police did not know if the victim had ties to a gang or was an innocent target of violence.

The attack occurred about 1 a.m. Saturday, when patrol officers responded to a report of shots being fired in the 9400 block of Sepulveda Boulevard at Plummer Street, Sonntag said.

When officers arrived on the scene, Francisco was lying on the ground next to his van, Sonntag said. He was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics, said Brian Humphrey, a Fire Department spokesman.

A hospital spokesman late Saturday declined to discuss Francisco’s condition or even to confirm he is a patient there.

Eyewitnesses told police that they were sitting in Francisco’s van in a parking lot when one of the assailants approached the vehicle, Sonntag said.

The attacker took out a handgun and fired several rounds into the van, striking Francisco, Sonntag said. The other people in the van were not injured, he said. Police did not know Saturday who pulled the trigger.

Two security officers in the area heard gunshots and went to the scene, Sonntag said. When they arrived, witnesses pointed out the suspects as they fled in their car. The security officers blocked the suspects’ escape with their patrol car, Sonntag said, and detained them until police arrived.

The case is under investigation by Devonshire homicide detectives, Sonntag said.