Four Killed, Two Injured in Easter Weekend Violence

A surge of Easter weekend violence, including a double homicide Sunday night, left at least four Los Angeles County residents dead and two others critically injured, authorities said.

Detectives were collecting evidence late Sunday at a home on Weidner Street in Pacoima where two men, ages 29 and 35, were found dead about 7:30 p.m. after neighbors reported hearing gunshots. The victims apparently were killed during a domestic dispute, and officers had identified a possible suspect, said Sgt. Yolanda Caterino of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Two hours earlier, an 18-year-old man was critically wounded in a drive-by shooting in the Monterey Hills area northeast of downtown. The attack on Castalia Avenue was believed to be gang-related, police said. The injured man was being treated at County-USC Medical Center.

Also Sunday afternoon, a man was shot and killed in Elysian Park in a separate gang- related incident, police said. The victim was shot shortly before 5 p.m. near Academy Drive, said LAPD Sgt. Wayne Guillary. No other information was available.

Sheriff’s detectives on Sunday were investigating the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy outside a West Valinda home.

Edwin Sanchez of La Puente was pronounced dead shortly after the attack at 10:25 p.m. Saturday on Duff Avenue in an unincorporated area between La Puente and West Covina, county coroner’s officials said.

A man who was standing in a driveway with Sanchez was wounded, said Deputy Alba Yates of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The man was in critical condition, Yates said.

Sanchez apparently was visiting the residence when unknown assailants walked up and started shooting, said Lt. Fred Corral, a coroner’s investigator.