Attempted Killing, Robbery May Be Linked

Members of a San Fernando gang are believed responsible for an attempted homicide and a robbery here Tuesday night, police said Wednesday, and may also have committed an assault.

Police said the same black Nissan Pathfinder may have been involved in the robbery and attempted killing. The attempted homicide occurred at 5:50 p.m. near Bromont Avenue and Astoria Street. According to Det. Kandi Schmidt of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division, two men in a Pathfinder pulled up to George Murillo, 18, beat him in the head with a baseball bat, and stabbed him in the eye and chest with a knife.

Murillo was taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, where he remained Wednesday. The hospital would not release his condition, but Schmidt said Murillo had lost the damaged eye.

Two hours later, a man in his 30s was robbed of $580 cash at the corner of San Fernando Road and Polk Street by two men. Responding officers arrested three men who ran from a black Nissan Pathfinder in the area. The Pathfinder was identified as the same car used in the attempted killing, and a baseball bat and knife were found in the car, Schmidt said.

The three men were arrested on suspicion of robbery, Schmidt said.

At 8:15 p.m., on Oro Grande Street, four men jumped out of a black Honda Civic and beat a 15-year-old boy. Schmidt said no suspects were arrested in that incident. She also said the Honda Civic and the Nissan Pathfinder are often seen together in the neighborhood.

Police believe the victims of the assault and the attempted homicide are members of a gang of teenagers who are based around Sylmar High School. That turf is claimed by a gang of older men based in San Fernando who are suspected of committing the crimes.