1 Killed, 2 Hurt in Chain of Gang Shootings, Police Say; Suspect Arrested

One man was killed and two injured in a chain of shooting incidents around the northeast Valley this weekend linked to gang violence, police said. One suspect was arrested Sunday in connection with one of the three incidents.

“We think they’re related, but nobody’s sure what’s going on,” said Los Angeles Police Lt. Lee Allen of the Foothill Division.

The trouble began around midnight Friday, when a 26-year-old Van Nuys man was seriously wounded in Sylmar near the intersection of Hubbard Avenue and Bradley Street in an apparent gang-related drive-by shooting.

The victim, whose name was withheld, was transported to a local hospital in critical condition, Allen said. The suspects fled in a light-colored, American vehicle and remained at large Sunday.

Around 10 p.m. Saturday, a 23-year-old Van Nuys man was fatally shot at a party in the 9800 block of Woodale Avenue in Arleta. Efren Barbosa, an alleged gang member, was shot multiple times in the upper torso after a fight broke out between rival gang members at the party, said homicide Det. Frank Bishop of the Foothill Division.

“There was a dispute, and then there was a gang fight,” Bishop said. “Shots were fired.”

Friends took Barbosa to Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Panorama City, where he was pronounced dead, Bishop said. On Sunday, police arrested a male suspect in connection with the slaying. His identity was not released.

At about 10:15 p.m. Saturday, as Barbosa’s friends were driving him to the hospital, they encountered the same rival gang members from the party in another car near the intersection of Van Nuys Boulevard and Nordhoff Street, police said.

A confrontation ensued in which another suspected gang member was wounded and taken to a local hospital. His condition could not be determined Sunday. There were no suspects in custody in the third shooting.