LA is a powder keg about ready to blow and Toilet Brush Tony is sitting on top of the keg wrapped in his beloved Mexican flag.

Night of Valley gun violence kills two, wounds eight

By Brandon Lowrey and Aron Miller, Staff Writers
Article Last Updated: 05/21/2008 06:50:41 AM PDT

North Hollywood Shooting
Four hours in the San Fernando Valley on Tuesday night resembled something out of a war zone: two dead, eight wounded and shell casings everywhere, police said this morning.

The bloodshed began about 6 p.m. Tuesday when a man was shot in Northridge by a gunman riding with other men in a car near Wilbur Avenue and Parthenia Street, said LAPD Lt. Bill Maarschalk. The victim's injuries were not life threatening.

An hour later, two men were killed in two shootings that were related within three blocks of each other in North Hollywood, LAPD's Deputy Chief Michel Moore said.

Dozens of officers descended on the area, setting up a perimeter around Whitsett Avenue and Oxnard Street, where one victim was found, and Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Vanowen Street, where the other was shot.

Shell casings from a variety of weapons were strewn throughout the area.

"We are just ... putting our arms around this event," Moore said.

Officers on patrol heard gunfire at Whitsett and Oxnard and when they sped to the intersection they saw a suspect running away. They lost him, but eventually tracked him down with police dogs to a backyard, where he was taken into custody, Moore said.

The North Hollywood shootings may have involved a car-to-car exchange of gunfire as there appeared to be a number of cars involved, he said.

The suspect, whose name has not been released, was being questioned this morning but was very uncooperative, said Officer Ana Aguirre, LAPD spokeswoman.


8:30 p.m., a gunman inside a vehicle shot four men who were getting into a car near Van Nuys Boulevard and Vena Avenue in Arleta.

Four males in their late teens to early 20s were getting into a car when a vehicle rolled up and someone inside fired several rounds toward the car, wounding all four occupants, said Lt. Ingrid Brown of the LAPD's Foothill Division.

The driver of the car that was attacked managed to drive himself and the three other victims to Pacifica Hospital of the Valley, she said.

From there, three victims were taken to other hospitals, Brown said.

"One (victim) got out of surgery and will be fine," she said late Tuesday. "Two are expected to survive, and the fourth (victim) is in surgery."

A description of the suspect vehicle or the gunman has not immediately released.

Then, at 9:45 p.m., two black men were shot at Vaughn Street and Bromont Avenue in Pacoima by two Latinos in a white Lexus, Aguirre said.

One was shot in the ankle, the other in the buttocks. Both are expected to recover.

Finally, about 10:15 p.m. in the 15000 block of Nurmi Street in Sylmar, a Latino was shot in the arm by four Latinos in a dark-colored Honda Civic, Aguirre said. He is in stable condition.

"Everything just went haywire," Aguirre said of the night of violence.

Ricky Smith, 48, who works in a funeral parlor, stood at the scene in North Hollywood shaking his head.

"It's just devastating, totally uncalled for," he said. "I see this quite often... It's just sad.

"When you get old, you say, 'Boy I wish I could be a kid again.' (But) you couldn't pay me, not today," Smith said, looking at the yellow police tap around the crime scene.

brandon.lowrey@dailynews.com (81 713-3699

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