Two arrested in shooting near school
Two gang members were arrested Friday in connection with a shooting earlier this week near Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Walter Oswaldo Guerra, 18, of Van Nuys and Sanderson Montes, 18, of North Hollywood were being interviewed Friday night and are expected to be booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon or possibly attempted murder, authorities said.
Both are affiliated with the Mara Salvatrucha street gang, police said.
According to authorities, the two men approached a car in the parking lot of a Jack in the Box restaurant at the intersection of Balboa Avenue and Vanowen Street on Monday.
After identifying themselves as gang members, police said, the suspects shot a 23-year-old man in the arm and leg. The man is in stable condition.
Neither the victim nor the suspects attend Birmingham High. Police and politicians are concerned, however, because students from the school often hang out at the Jack in the Box.
“Too many children must navigate a minefield of violence on their daily journey to school, and this is a situation we will not tolerate,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement.
Police said that they have connected the gun used in the shooting to two other crimes committed last month: an attempted robbery and an assault.
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