Man Killed, 3 Wounded by Gunfire Behind Church

A man approached a vehicle behind a South-Central Los Angeles church Thursday night and opened fire, killing one man, shooting two others and wounding a young boy in the leg, police said.

The boy, between the age of 3 and 6, was listed in serious condition at St. Francis Hospital.

Two men in their 20s were also in serious condition with leg wounds, one at St. Francis and one at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center.

An unidentified man died at the scene at the 10000 block of South Main Street, behind the Holy Pathway Missionary Baptist Church, said Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Little.

Witnesses told police the gunman ran to a dark green Chevrolet Suburban with tinted windows. The SUV then sped to Broadway and headed north.

At the scene dozens of anxious residents attempted to find out if their loved ones had been shot.

“I just pray it’s not my cousin,” said a teenage boy as his mother wept, leaning against a car across the street.

Others expressed anger that they were not allowed to identify the body of the slain victim, which was still at the scene.

Last summer, South Los Angeles endured one of the worst spates of gang shootings in recent years. Gang homicides increased 116% last July over the same period the previous year.

During the first six months of this year, violent crime citywide increased by 2.5% over last year, according to LAPD crime statistics

Gang experts last summer attributed the increased violence to a number of factors, including the hot weather, a new generation of gang members trying to make reputations and a lack of summer programs for youths.

For the first three weeks of July, there were 20 homicides in South Los Angeles, police said. There were 12 in the area in June.