Westminster Boy, 16, Dies From Gunshot

A 16-year-old Westminster boy shot in the head while riding in a car with three friends over the weekend died Tuesday from his wounds.

The Duy-Nguyen Doan was the fifth in Orange County to die from violence over the Fourth of July weekend, making the holiday one of the bloodiest in recent memory, police said.

Westminster police have not made any arrests in the shooting, which occurred shortly before 3 a.m. Monday. Police said they believe the assailants may have been involved in a second shooting, which didn’t result in any injuries.

The teenager’s friends told police they had been driving down Westminster Boulevard just east of Magnolia Street when another car pulled up and someone began firing at them. One of the bullets struck Doan.

Witnesses told police that someone in the car carrying Doan may have fired back.

Police stopped and questioned five juveniles who were spotted driving in a vehicle riddled with bullet holes. The subjects were let go after police decided that they also may have been victims of the same assailants.

Doan’s slaying was the last of five that began barely 28 hours earlier when two teenagers, whose names police have not released, were shot to death outside a Stanton pool hall about 11 p.m. Saturday.

Shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday, police found the body of Rogelio Cardenas, 21, of Anaheim, along El Toro Road in Lake Forest. He had been shot several times. Just before 11 p.m. Sunday, Eric De Soto of Anaheim also was shot several times and left to die outside an Anaheim apartment complex.

Police said the four earlier weekend slayings were gang-related, but Westminster officials would not say whether such a link has been found in the Doan shooting.