Teen Shot Dead Walking Home From School

A 17-year-old boy was shot to death near a Catholic church as he walked home from school Wednesday afternoon.

Giovanni Avelar of Van Nuys was shot several times in the chest with a .22-caliber rifle near Our Lady of Peace church in the 9100 block of Langdon Avenue, said Capt. Joseph Curreri of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Devonshire Division.

Witnesses said two young men ran from the scene before police arrived, Curreri said.

“We know the victim was not a gangster,” Curreri said, adding that police had no suspects or motives in the case.

Friends and family members expressed shock at the shooting, describing Giovanni as an earnest student who worked part time to support his mother, three brothers and sister.

“He was just walking home,” said his mother, Ana Avelar. “I hope they find whoever did this. I always told him to be safe. He was a very good student and a hard worker.”

Giovanni worked part time stuffing advertising inserts into the Los Angeles Times on weekends, she said.

“He was very talkative and very funny,” said Gloria Gonzalez, a family friend. “I don’t know why anyone would want to shoot him.”

A junior at year-round James Monroe High School, Avelar was still wearing his backpack filled with school books when police arrived. He was shot about a mile away from school and a half-mile from his home in Panorama City.

Area residents cried for the victim, and expressed fear for the lives of their own children in this neighborhood plagued by crime.

“This street is bad, it’s not safe,” said Maria Elena Mojica, who has lived in a nearby apartment complex for three years. “There are so many gangsters causing trouble here. I’m sick to think the boy who was shot is the same age as my son, Francisco.”

Archetta Chatman, another Langdon Street resident, knows the pain of losing a teenager to gun violence. Her 17-year-old nephew was shot in the back of the head while walking home from Crenshaw High School two years ago.

“This kid was so young, like my nephew,” said Chatman, who moved into an apartment in the neighborhood four months ago. “He was somebody’s baby.”

The crime scene is across the street from the Kids Klub day-care center. Parents were escorted by police one at a time to pick up their children from the facility.

“I’m surprised it happened right here,” Augusto Carmona of Panorama City said as he carried his 2-year-old granddaughter, Jocelyn. “But I’m glad my granddaughter is safe. It’s a shame kids have to kill each other.”

At the crime scene, friends and family members gathered and placed candles. Gonzalez said the Avelar family worshiped at the Catholic church near where Giovanni was slain.