Shooting Leaves 1 Dead, 1 Wounded

A shooting left a 19-year-old man dead and an 18-year-old neighbor critically wounded, and authorities have jailed seven Van Nuys men in connection with the crime.

A gunman shot and killed Edgar Cruz, 19, about 8:30 p.m. Friday and critically wounded Andres Morales, 18, near their homes in the large Conejo Creek condominium complex in the 600 block of Avenida Del Platino, authorities said.

Detectives are investigating the possibility the shootings were gang-related, Ventura County Sheriff’s Senior Deputy Ed Tumbleson said. Several known gang members live in the complex, he said.

Detectives, however, said Morales and Cruz were unarmed and were not members of the city’s two established gangs.

The shooting occurred as neighbors and their children stood along the street talking and playing.

Two carloads of men pulled up near Cruz and Morales, Tumbleson said, and one man jumped from a car and shot Cruz as he stood in the middle of the street.

The gunman then pointed his weapon toward Morales, who was turning to run from a nearby front yard, Tumbleson said. Cruz and Morales were shot in the abdomen.

Witnesses told police three or four shots were fired before the assailants fled, and at least two shots struck a house.

“I heard the shots and ran for my daughter because she was outside,” Magdelena Moreno said.

Moreno’s 2-year-old daughter was standing with her father near the shooting site, Moreno said.

Cruz was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy report Saturday said he died from gunshot wounds to the abdomen, according to Armando Chavez, a deputy coroner at the Ventura County medical examiner’s office.

On Saturday night Morales was listed in critical but stable condition at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Piecing together the sequence of events has been difficult because detectives were unable to interview Morales Friday night and the suspects were not cooperative, Tumbleson said.

The men were acquaintances and are among the many residents who can often be found standing outside the complex, authorities said.

“Any evening hour, usually on the weekends, there’s someone in front of nearly every unit,” said Tumbleson, assigned to a sheriff’s post about a block from the complex.

After the shooting, the two cars sped away but deputies stopped one vehicle moments later on the Ventura Freeway. The other was stopped near the Parkway Calabasas offramp in Los Angeles County.

Jose Torres, 29; Carlos Molina, also known as Carlos Escobar, 24; Adan Gonzalez, 24; Mabrisio Rodrigues, 26; Fransisco Alberto Rodriguez, 28; Roberto Guerra, 20, and Jesus Miranda, 21, all of Van Nuys, were being held Saturday on $500,000 to $515,000 bail on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, authorities said.

Bail is slightly higher for Torres and Molina, both on probation for undisclosed convictions, authorities said. All seven are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.

Authorities recovered a gun from one of the cars, Tumbleson said.

The last gang-related shooting in the same neighborhood occurred in August 1998. Two suspected gang members were arrested Aug. 6, 1998, when shots were fired at a party, injuring five teens.

To combat increasing violence and drug sales in the area, officials opened a neighborhood center last June near the condo complex.

The center offers recreational activities and tutoring for youths but no longer has a full-time deputy on duty. The position was eliminated in January but occasionally deputies stop by while on patrol, Tumbleson said.