Jenna Bordelon
NORTHWEST DISTRICT -- A shootout early Friday morning between alleged
rival gang members led to the death of one boy and the arrest of his
friend, according to police.
The boy, whose name and age were not released, was allegedly shot in
the back as he and a friend exchanged gunfire with two other men in an
area near Goodwin Street and San Fernando Boulevard in the Atwater
Village area of Los Angeles, just southwest of the Glendale border.
Burbank police officials said the wounded boy was driven to another
friend's house in the 3300 block of Vanowen Street, where he was
abandoned.
That friend took the boy to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center,
where the wounded youth was pronounced dead.
Bonifacio Salas, who drove the boy into Burbank and left him, has been
arrested on suspicion of murder under the vicarious liability law.
The special circumstance law holds a person responsible for a partner
who suffers fatal injuries while a crime was being committed, Los Angeles
Police Department Det. Gil Garcia said.
"We're not sure what instigated the incident between the two rival
gangs other than that they were rival gang members," Garcia said. He
added that it was not clear who actually fired the small- to
medium-caliber handguns police believe were used.
Salas was driving a white Dodge Durango and the boy who was killed was
in the passenger seat when they traded gunfire with two men on foot.
"They have not been identified," Garcia said. "No one else has been
arrested and the investigation is continuing."
Salas was being held in county jail in lieu of $1 million bail. He
will be arraigned Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
