One Killed, Three Wounded in Area Gang Shootings
A young man and a 14-year-old boy were wounded in separate gang-related shootings in Santa Monica on Saturday, and a shooting in Compton killed a reputed gang member and wounded his girlfriend, police said.
Mark Bilderrain, 18, was shot in the head at 1:19 a.m. and taken to Santa Monica Hospital Medical Center for surgery to remove the bullet, said Sgt. Cornelius Atkins.
Bilderrain was wounded when an occupant of a car carrying suspected West Los Angeles gang members fired at a car occupied by suspected Santa Monica gang members, Atkins said.
About four hours later, a 14-year-old boy in an apartment was shot in the elbow and suffered minor injuries, Atkins said. Police arrested a suspected gang member, who was not identified.
Elsewhere, police in Compton were looking for a suspect in Friday night’s shooting of 17-year-old Jose Luis Gonzalez and his unidentified girlfriend, said Sgt. Bill Kemp.
Gonzalez was pronounced dead at 10:15 p.m. with chest wounds and his girlfriend was in stable condition at St. Francis Medical Center after being shot in the back, Atkins said.
The shootings came the night before the city’s Multicultural Festival, which was designed to promote unity and solidarity against drugs and crime.
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