3 Slain and 10 Wounded in Gang Gunfire

Despite a continued police crackdown in South-Central Los Angeles, three people died and at least 10 were wounded this weekend in a hail of gang gunfire that stretched from Westwood to Pomona, authorities said Sunday.

The bloodshed brought to nine the number of people killed in gang violence in Los Angeles County this week, a total of 122 deaths since January.

Authorities were at a loss to explain the deadly weekend outburst.

“I don’t know why there are so many,” said Deputy Detta Roberts of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau. “Some weeks, unfortunately, there just seems to be a lot.”

Los Angeles police detectives were looking for five suspected gang members in the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old man early Sunday in Sylmar.

John Shaw of Sylmar was shot outside of a party he attended in the 14900 block of Aztec Street, Detective Richard Knapp said. Investigators did not know if Shaw was a gang member, Knapp said.

Shaw left the party with two friends about 12:30 a.m., Knapp said. The group was returning to the party when confronted by the assailants, who said they were gang members, the detective said. Shaw fled but was shot once in the upper torso and died at the scene.

Early Saturday morning, a 28-year-old East Los Angeles man was shot as he fled from pursuing gang members at a gas station, Roberts said.

Mario Arellanes of East Los Angeles was pursued and gunned down after he emerged from the restroom of the gas station in the 3800 block of 3rd Street, Roberts said. No arrests had been made.

In Compton, a 25-year-old gang leader was killed Friday after arguing with three men also believed to be gang members, Compton police said. Kalon Lewis, identified by police as a well-known gang member, died about two hours after the 8 p.m. shooting. No suspects were apprehended.

Another man was killed early Sunday outside of a South-Central Los Angeles liquor store, but the murder was thought to be unrelated to gang activity, police said. Police suspect that the man, who was not identified pending notification of family, may have been involved in a drug deal gone awry.

A dozen other gang-related shootings took place over the weekend, some amid heavy police presence in the South-Central and San Pedro areas. During the crackdown, 200 officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s anti-gang task force arrested 196 people, 125 of whom were believed to be gang members.