A 15-year-old reputed gang member has been arrested in connection with a shooting that left four people injured in East Los Angeles earlier this month, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Thursday.
The teen — whose name was not released — was taken into custody Wednesday without incident at his East Los Angeles home, and detectives will present the District Attorney’s Office with the potential case Friday against the teen involving the July 5 shooting, according to Luna.
“Our investigation determined that the suspect, who is a criminal street gang member, fired multiple rounds at several individuals who were gathered in the area, recklessly placing countless innocent community members at risk. … This individual that we are alleging shot the four individuals is 15 years old,” the sheriff said.
The shooting — which the sheriff called “a senseless act of violence shattered the evening when a suspect decided to open fire into the crowd” — occurred about 9:36 p.m. July 5 at the intersection of Leonard Avenue and Whittier Boulevard at a gathering following Mexico’s loss to England in the FIFA World Cup.
“Our investigation determined that the suspect, who is a criminal street gang member, fired multiple rounds at several individuals who were gathered in the area, recklessly placing countless innocent community members at risk,” Luna said, noting that there were a lot of families and children there.
Detectives subsequently identified three suspects, including the teenage boy and two women, aged 21 and 38, according to the sheriff.
The women were arrested in the Antelope Valley area for their “alleged roles in luring the primary victim to the location and assisting the shooting suspect in evading arrest,” Luna said.
“Out of concern for potential gang retaliation and witness intimidation, we are not releasing their names at this time,” the sheriff said.
Detectives are still searching for the firearm used in the shooting, Luna said, asking anyone with information about the weapon to call Operation Safe Streets investigators at 310-680-2500 or to call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
“Recovering this gun is critical to the investigation and ultimately what we will be presenting to the District Attorney’s Office, and actually when you think about it, the most important part of getting that gun off the street we don’t want a repeat victim or victims,” the sheriff said.
He noted that the Flock license-plate reader system was “instrumental” in ultimately leading to “the arrest of the suspects.”
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners Thursday approved recommendations to suspend the deployment of automated license plate reader cameras licensed by Flock Safety pending additional oversight and public input over how data collected by the cameras is used.
LAPD’s three-year contract with Flock expired Saturday, though officials said they would work with the company on a new agreement that clearly defines and enforces data security and privacy protections.