Graffiti Vandal Slain in Gun Battle

A teenage tagger painting over the name of a rival gang was killed early Monday after the gunmen who claim control of the area caught him and three friends in the act, police said.

Hector Heredia, 19, of Santa Ana and three friends began spraying their monikers and gang initials in large black letters over walls, signs, windows and utility poles sometime before 4 a.m., when witnesses heard shots at Edinger Avenue and Center Street and called police. The group also painted over graffiti by another gang that established the territory as theirs, police said.

“It was a pretty bold move,” Police Sgt. Bob Clark said. “On the street, that’s an insult that won’t go unpunished.”

As Heredia and his friends turned to flee, a bullet hit Heredia near his heart, police said. He collapsed in the parking lot of Westport Christian Academy and died, while his friends disappeared into the darkness, witnesses told police. The assailants also fled, leaving a half-dozen bullet casings on the southeast corner.

Shells and a small-caliber handgun found near Heredia indicate that one of his partners returned fire, police said. The two groups shot numerous rounds at each other from opposite corners across Edinger Avenue, Clark said. It was unclear how many people were involved.

Police inspected the graffiti Monday, photographing the chunky block letters that covered the side of a vacant doughnut shop, self-service laundry, Westport’s preschool sign and several gas meter boxes.

“There’s fresh graffiti everywhere out here,” said Sgt. Dan Beaumarchais, a gang unit supervisor. “Mostly it’s just their gang’s name and their own nicknames, but there’s a lot of it.”

Police said Heredia and his friends probably marked their territory, crossed out the symbols of other gangs and used guns and intimidation to protect their work.

Police suspect Monday’s graffiti vandals may have painted over their rivals’ work to proclaim dominance but doubt they were ready for an instant fight. The move was probably intended as a silent challenge, investigators said.

“They probably went in there to make a point and leave their mark in somebody else’s turf,” Clark said. “Unfortunately, they got caught.”

Orange County cities spend more than $2 million each year cleaning up graffiti, an expense that has prompted some city officials to pass tough anti-tagging ordinances and offer rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of graffiti vandals. The California Highway Patrol has formed anti-graffiti squads, and the Orange County Transportation Authority spends more than $500,000 a year keeping buses graffiti-free.