Boy, 15, Is Fatally Shot Walking Near School

A Francis Polytechnic High School freshman walking with friends a few blocks from the Sun Valley campus was killed Thursday in a drive-by shooting that police said may have been gang-related.

Fifteen-year-old Santiago Polanco of Sun Valley died at the scene shortly after the 11:40 a.m. shooting in the 8300 block of Sharp Avenue in North Hollywood, said Det. Vince Bancroft of the Los Angeles Police Department’s North Hollywood Division.

LAPD investigators said Polanco was ambushed as he and a group of students were walking along Sharp Avenue near the mouth of an alley in a neighborhood northeast of the high school.

A gunman in a dark green Jeep Cherokee shot Polanco several times, Bancroft said.

Investigators said they were searching for at least two Latino men with shaved heads, who sped through the alley in the Jeep. A witness, who asked that her name not be used because she feared retribution, said she saw three men in the Jeep, one of whom got out and shot Polanco.

“They stopped in the alley and shot him twice, once in the back and once in the right shoulder,” she said. “He was still alive when I ran [to the alley] with my mom and some neighbors. We tried to stop the bleeding with a towel. But he died five minutes later.”

Louie Olvera, who works in the high school’s attendance office, said Polanco “touched a lot of hearts just by being himself.”

“He always had a smile,” Olvera said.

Elizabeth Polanco, 18, the victim’s sister, arrived at the shooting scene about 5 p.m., saying she had to see where her brother died.

She said he was not in a gang but had friends in Sun Valley with gang affiliations.

“He wanted to graduate,” she said as she choked back tears. “He was so friendly and easy to talk to. He cared about me so much and would take care of me.”

None of the students who were with Polanco were hurt, police said.

School administrators did not inform the campus’ 3,700 students about the shooting. Asked why, Monica Carazo, a Los Angeles Unified School District spokeswoman, said the incident occurred “a considerable distance away” from the school.

She added that counselors were available to help any students affected by the shooting.

Investigators said they did not know what motivated the ambush. But they said they believe the assailants may be gang members.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call homicide detectives at (818) 623-4075.

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Times staff writer David Pierson contributed to this report.