2 Killed, 1 Wounded in Attack in Bell Gardens

A man and a woman were killed and another woman hospitalized in critical condition following a shooting in Bell Gardens on Wednesday, authorities said.

The victims were in a car parked near Bell Gardens Elementary School in the 5600 block of Quinn Street, near Eastern Avenue, about 4 p.m. when the shooting occurred.

Police, paramedics and fire department personnel arrived to find the three slumped over in the car.

Each had been shot at least once, said Capt. Phil Schneider of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

A woman was dead in the front passenger seat of the four-door sedan, Schneider said.

A second woman, who was found in the driver’s seat, was taken to an undisclosed hospital and remained in critical condition Wednesday night.

A man in the back seat had been shot in the head. He later died at a hospital.

No suspects were in custody. Schneider said it wasn’t clear where the shots had come from or whether the shooting was gang-related.

The rear passenger window behind where the male passenger was sitting appeared to have been shot out.

Students at the school had gone home, but several teachers and administrators were still there at the time of the shooting, Schneider said.

“We do have quite a few shootings in Bell Gardens,” Schneider said, many of them attributable to gangs. “It’s a sad day that this happens on the day before Thanksgiving.”