A 15-year-old boy was robbed and shot to death during an illegal street occupation, authorities said, in one of several incidents that called police to Los Angeles over the weekend.
Los Angeles Police Chief Dominic Choi said at a Los Angeles Police Commission meeting on Tuesday that officers found the victim and another 15-year-old boy shot late Friday night near West 54th Street and Western Avenue in South Los Angeles, where the boys had been watching a street occupation when they were robbed by two men, the chief said.
“After their belongings were taken, one of the juveniles threw a brick at the suspect’s vehicle,” Chey said.
The suspected robber then opened fire on the boys, shooting two of them dead. The victims then drove themselves to the hospital rather than by ambulance, Choi said. One of the victims died from his injuries the next day.
The Los Angeles Police Department is asking for the public’s help in solving the case, as police have not identified any suspects and no arrests have been made. The identity of the murdered boy has not been released.
“Our Street Racing Task Force and Southern Bureau Homicide Unit are working diligently to solve this heinous and senseless crime,” Choi said.
Los Angeles Police said Saturday that both juveniles were in stable condition after the shooting, but later said the deceased victim was in critical condition and was transported to another hospital before dying from his injuries on Saturday.
However, Friday night’s incident was not the only case of illegal street occupation reported over the weekend.
Two street sieges on Sunday night led to a shooting in Compton and a vehicle fire in South Los Angeles. A car flipped over at the intersection of Greenleaf Boulevard and Santa Fe Avenue in Compton, and the driver of one of the cars opened fire after being struck by another vehicle. No arrests were made and no one was injured, police said.
Officers later responded to another occupation incident in South Los Angeles, just north of the intersection of Manchester Avenue and Avalon Boulevard, where video showed a wrecked car engulfed in flames in the middle of the intersection.
A vehicle fire broke out after a street takeover at the intersection of Manchester Avenue and Avalon Boulevard in South Los Angeles.
At the meeting Tuesday, Chay said the car was fully in flames when officers arrived. He said a Wingstop restaurant near the intersection was broken into the same night by five people wearing balaclavas, smashing the glass storefront, tripping security cameras and taking chicken and other property, leaving behind $8,000 in damages.
Illegal street takeovers, which often involve dangerous stunts like drifting and doing doughnuts, draw crowds in various parts of Los Angeles and are sometimes the scene of violent crimes. In January, six street takeovers took place in one night in Compton and South Los Angeles, including one in which four people were shot and killed, among more than a dozen reported by police so far this year.
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors called on local law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, to submit verbal reports by the end of July on what is being done to address these crimes.
“For several years, the streets of the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County have been subject to dangerous and illegal street occupations that have caused road damage, vandalism and arson, and put participants and spectators at risk of serious injury or death,” reads the motion for the report, filed by Los Angeles County Supervisors Hilda Solis and Holly Mitchell.
Anyone with information regarding the fatal shooting that occurred during a road siege near West 54th Street and Western Avenue in South Los Angeles on the evening of Friday, July 19th, is asked to contact detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department’s South Division Homicide Division at 323-786-5100.
After hours or on weekends, please call 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (1-877-527-3247). Those wishing to remain anonymous may call LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477) or visit lacrimestoppers.org.
Marissa Wentzke