Suspect Charged in Shooting

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has filed charges against a suspect in connection with the spring shooting of Rodney Anderson, a freshman reserve on the Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team last season, according to the investigating detective in the case.

Louie Aguilera, a detective in the Safe Streets Bureau working out of the Lennox Station, said the name of the suspect was being withheld, pending a meeting with another witness. Aguilera described the suspect as a “known gang member in Los Angeles.”

The suspect, described as a 24-year-old male, has been arraigned on four counts of attempted murder. Aguilera said the suspect had been held for three months in the L.A. County Jail on a parole violation before the new charges were filed Thursday.

Anderson was critically wounded on March 2 on a street in his family’s Los Angeles neighborhood. Anderson suffered three bullet wounds to his back and right forearm from a small-caliber handgun in what at the time was believed to be an act of random violence.

Anderson had gone home to Los Angeles to have dinner with his family before Fullerton’s final game of the season.

Anderson was partially paralyzed from his injuries and is recovering at his family’s home.

Aguilera said the suspect had been on parole after spending six years in prison for robbery. Bail has been set at $1 million. The preliminary hearing will be held Oct. 19.

Anderson attended a reception for athletes at Fullerton at the start of the new school year in August. He is not enrolled at the university, but is considering returning for the spring semester.