Author: Geoff Mohan

A man in his 20s was killed Saturday night in South Los Angeles in what was believed to be a gang-related shooting, authorities said.



The victim was in the 950 block of East 22nd Street when he was approached by two men, who asked him where he was from, Los Angeles Police Lt. Sam Rhone said. One of them then shot the man in the upper body.

The shooting victim was transported to County-USC Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The L.A. County coroner’s office has identified the man but would not release his name, pending notification of next of kin. No other information was available.

[Updated 1:50 p.m.: At least 23 homicides have been reported within one mile of 950 block of East 22nd Street by L.A. County coroner’s officials since January 2007, according to data collected for The Times’ interactive Homicide Report.

The most recent was the Jan. 12, 2010, death of Oscar Becerril-Rios, 31, who died two days after he was hit in the head with a 2-by-4 at 17th Street and Hooper Avenue in downtown Los Angeles during what authorities described as a beer-fueled dispute at a baptismal party.]

— Corina Knoll

A 54-year-old man was killed Saturday in Huntington Beach after crashing his vehicle into a streetlight and a tree, authorities said.



Sparky D. Wilbur was driving a black Chevrolet Corvette east on Indianapolis Avenue about 8:15 p.m. at a high rate of speed when he lost control and hit a light pole and then a tree on the sidewalk near Magnolia Street, Huntington Beach police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.



The passenger in the car was transported to UCI Medical Center with minor injuries.



Alcohol is believed to have been a factor, police said. In July 2008, the Daily Pilot reported that Wilbur had been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. Wilbur’s name is listed as a past participant in several motor-sports racing events.



Anyone who saw the crash occur is asked to call the Huntington Beach police traffic bureau at (714) 536-5666.



— Corina Knoll

A 38-year-old woman died after being dragged alongside a vehicle and shot during an apparent robbery attempt at a Westminster park, authorities said Sunday. Two suspects were arrested.

Tuyet Thi Huynh of Garden Grove was in Russell Paris Park at about 11:30 p.m., talking to a man and a woman sitting in a vehicle, Westminster Police Department spokesman Van Woodson said. The passenger of the car allegedly grabbed Huynh’s purse as the driver sped away, dragging the woman for several blocks. One of the suspects then shot Huynh, who fell near the intersection of Palos Verdes Avenue and Fox Hills Street, according to police.

Huynh’s boyfriend, who witnessed the incident, drove after the suspects and was shot at during the pursuit, Woodson said. A deputy from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department saw the two speeding cars and stopped the vehicles. After the boyfriend explained what had happened, the deputy detained Christopher Yu, 18, of Fountain Valley, and Lynn Quach, 19, of Garden Grove, for questioning. Both have been charged with murder and attempted murder.

Huynh was transported by the Orange County Fire Authority to UCI Medical Center, where she later died.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Westminster police at (714) 898-3315.

— Corina Knoll

Photo: Christopher Yu, top, and Lynn Quach. Credit: Westminster Police Department

Inglewood police fatally shot a man in a grocery store Saturday after he lunged at an officer with an ax, authorities say.



Officers arrived at City Farm Market in the 10800 block of Prairie Avenue about 9:30 p.m. after employees reported that a man was in the store threatening people with a knife, according to a Inglewood Police Department statement. Upon arrival, officers were informed that the man had been stabbing himself and was hiding on the premises. Following a trail of blood through the store, the officers arrived at a walk-in refrigerator.

The suspect exited the refrigerator holding an ax that he had found inside and made a movement toward an officer, the statement said. Two officers shot the man multiple times, police said.

The officers have been identified as Sgt. John Knapp, a 28-year veteran of the department, and Sgt. Greg Held, a nine-year veteran of the department. Investigations will be conducted by Inglewood police and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

The L.A. County coroner’s office has not confirmed the identity of the man.



— Corina Knoll

Learn about more than 100 fatal officer-involved shootings in Los Angeles County since January 2007, including at least seven others in Inglewood on The Times’ interactive Homicide Report. In that time period, coroner’s officials have reported at least 58 homicides in Inglewood.

A 30-year-old man was fatally shot in Pomona on Saturday night, police said.

Police responded to 540 E. Holt Ave. at 10:15 p.m. and found the victim, Alvin Pride, unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head, said Pomona Police Sgt. Chuck Becker.

Pride was airlifted to a Los Angeles-area hospital where he was pronounced dead. Investigators are searching for suspects and a motive.

[Updated 6:05 p.m.: Since January 2007, there have been 12 homicides within a mile of the location where Pride was fatally wounded, according to coroner’s records collected in The Times’ Homicide Report.]

— Joe Mozingo

Authorities have identified the body discovered Saturday
morning in Angeles National Forest.

Ramon Sibrian, 18, of Pacoima, was found at Mile Marker 14.66
on Little Tujunga Canyon Road by a passerby at about 3:30 a.m., according to the
L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and an official with the L.A. County coroner’s department.

Sibrian was pronounced dead at the scene. No other
information was given.

— Corina Knoll

A 19-year-old woman was shot early Saturday in El Monte
while riding in the back seat of a car, authorities said Sunday.

The vehicle was near Cogswell Road and Klingerman
Street at about 1:20 a.m. when shots were fired, El Monte Police Lt. Michelle
States said.

The woman, an El Monte resident, was taken to County-USC
Medical Center in stable condition. She and the other people in the car did not
know if the shots had come from another car or someone on the street, States said.

No other injuries were reported.

— Corina Knoll

A 3.1-magnitude earthquake hit Southern California about 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

The epicenter was about three miles northeast of Cabazon and about 14 miles northwest of Palm Springs, in Riverside County, according to the United States Geological Survey.

There were no reports of serious damage. On the Richter scale, a 3.1-magnitude earthquake is considered minor.

— Corina Knoll

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating
two recent deaths in which Downey police officers were involved.

On Saturday, officers from the Downey Police Department shot and killed a man wielding an ax, said L.A. County Sheriff’s Capt. Ray Leyva. The man, believed to be in his 30s, was walking north in the middle
of the southbound lanes of Paramount Boulevard, near Imperial Highway, about
6:30 p.m. Officers ordered him several times to stop and drop the weapon, Levya said, but
he refused and advanced toward them with the ax raised over his head.

"Fearing for their safety, the officers fired their weapons
at the suspect and struck him," he said.

The man was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced
dead. He has not been identified, pending notification of next of kin. The hatchet was
recovered.

The incident occurred one day after 31-year-old Albert
Valencia died after Downey police used a Taser to subdue him after
a foot chase.

Officers were called to an LA Fitness health club at Firestone Boulevard
and Ryerson Avenue about 9 a.m. Friday after patrons reported that a man
was acting strangely and threatening people inside the gym, according to a statement from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.

Upon arrival, officers attempted to stop Valencia, who
was driving his car out of the parking lot. The officers reported that they saw Valencia brandish a knife as they approached him, the statement said.

Valencia stopped his vehicle at Almira and
Blumont roads in South Gate and fled into a yard, where officers became involved in a "physical altercation" with him and used a Taser, according to the statement.

Shortly afterward, Valencia became unresponsive, and officers
performed CPR until the fire department arrived. He was taken to a
local hospital and pronounced dead.

— Corina Knoll

Learn about more than 100 fatal officer-involved shootings in Los Angeles County since January 2007 on the Times’ interactive Homicide Report.

Authorities are investigating the early Sunday morning shooting death of a 29-year-old man in East Los Angeles in what is believed to be a gang-related attack.

John Anthony Quinata was standing in a front yard with a group of people in the 3300 block of Folsom Street about 12:30 a.m. when three men approached and began shooting, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and a county coroner official. Quinata was pronounced dead at the scene. His autopsy is scheduled for Sunday. 

A 32-year-old man in the group was also struck by gunfire. He was treated at a hospital and released.

The assailants fled in a gold-colored sedan, possibly a Nissan, authorities said.

[Updated 3 p.m.:  Since January 2007, at least 20 people have been killed in homicides that took place within a mile of Sunday’s shooting, according to coroner’s records compiled for The Times’ Homicide report.] 



Anyone with information about this incident can call (323) 890-5500.



— Corina Knoll

A man was shot and killed Saturday night while attending a party in Westlake Village, authorities said.

The victim was attending a party in the 31000 block of Kentfield Court when he got into a fight with the suspect, Lt. Liam Gallagher of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

The suspect left the location and returned with a handgun about 11:15 p.m., shooting the victim in the upper torso, Gallagher said. The suspect was detained by partygoers and is in custody. 

[Updated 3:05 p.m.: This incident marks the first reported homicide in Westlake Village since The Times’ began tracking all homicides in Los Angeles County on the Homicide Report in January 2007.] 



— Corina Knoll

An autopsy was completed Sunday on the body of a man found in Ballona Creek in Marina del Rey, but a cause of death has yet to be determined, said Lt. Joe Bale of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.



The body of Los Angeles resident Kevin Brent Cohn, 32, was discovered Saturday at about 9:15 a.m., near a bicycle path along the flood-control channel, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.



Bale did not know why the cause of death had been deferred, but said the most common reason was due to the need to perform toxicology tests.



— Corina Knoll

Three men and two women were wounded Saturday night after a gunman fired on an outdoor party in Pomona, authorities said. Two of the victims were seriously injured.



The five victims were in the courtyard of an apartment complex in the 880 block of South Buena Vista Avenue at about 11 p.m. when the gunman approached and fired, Pomona Police Sgt. Christian Hsu said in a statement.



Wounded in the shooting were Javier Acevedo, 31, and David Campos, 35, of Pomona; Jaime Arellano, 47, of Los Angeles; Diana Campos, 32, of Ontario; and Crystal Medrano, 24, of Claremont. The five victims were taken to local hospitals; it was not known which two were seriously hurt.



The gunman, who fled on foot, was described as a male Latino in his early 20s. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Dets. Andy Bebon or Mike Lange at (909) 620-2095, or the anonymous tip line at (909) 620-2085.



— Corina Knoll

A 20-year-old man was killed in Inglewood Saturday night in what appears to be a gang-related shooting, authorities said.

Ramon Requena was in front of an apartment building in the 600 block of Venice Way at about 9 p.m. when he was approached by the suspect and shot, Inglewood Police Sgt. Matthew Hart and Joe Bale of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said.

Requena was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities say he may have been a resident of Lancaster.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Inglewood police homicide division, (310) 412-5246, or the 24-hour anonymous hotline, (888) 41-CRIME.

— Corina Knoll

Map: There have been 39 homicides within two miles of this killing since Jan. 1, 2007, according to the Times’ Homicide Report database. Click for an interactive map of Los Angeles homicides.

Authorities have discovered the skeletal remains of Amber Dubois, the 14-year-old girl who disappeared last year on her way to Escondido High School.

Police had re-focused attention on the case this week after a registered sex offender was arrested in the murder of Chelsea King, a high school senior from nearby Poway.

Amber’s remains were discovered Saturday afternoon in a remote area near Pala in northern San Diego County, Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher said.

Investigators were following up on an unspecified lead and did not say if her death is connected to Chelsea King’s. John Albert Gardner, 30, faces murder charges in that potential death penalty case.

[Update 5:40 p.m. Amber was last seen walking to school at 7:10 a.m. Feb. 13, 2009, carrying a $200 check to purchase a lamb for her 4-H project. Family and friends have described Amber as a bookish, sheltered girl who loved animals, including wolves. 

Family and friends had spent months distributing fliers seeking information about Dubois’ disappearance. The FBI’s website sought anyone who might have seen a red pickup truck in the school”s parking lot, near where Amber was last seen. 

The teen was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants and two rings, a blue sapphire ring worn on her middle left finger. She was also wearing a silver claddagh ring, which is a traditional Irish ring given in friendship or worn as a wedding ring.]

— Richard Marosi

Photo: Amber Dubois. Credit: FBI

RELATED: No clues found about missing Escondido teen

Park is searched for clues about girl missing for a year

Among the gated enclaves, anger and fear over Chelsea King’s killing

Search for San Diego County girl ends in grief

The head of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles said Sunday that his organization welcomed the arrest of Adam Gadahn, a Riverside County native who appeared in videos defending Al Qaeda, including the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

“We welcome the arrest,” said Salam Marayati, who heads the council in Los Angeles. “This
is one step closer to defeating Al Qaeda and defeating the mentality of death
and despair, which is alien to Islam.”  

Marayati said Gadahn
ended up under the influence of the wrong Muslims and had used the religion to
make political statements for Al Qaeda. “I don’t think that what he
has been saying has any merit in Islam,” he said. “It is a political ploy.”

Gadahn is wanted in the U.S. for
treason. He became a Muslim after he moved to Orange County.

[Updated at 2 p.m.: Gadahn’s aunt, Nancy Pearlman, who is on the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees, declined to answer any questions about Gadahn.

Told about the arrest, she said, “You know more than I do.”]

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan — Security forces in the southern
port city of Karachi have arrested Adam Gadahn, a Southern California
native who became a top propagandist for Al Qaeda and is wanted by the
U.S. on treason charges, Pakistani intelligence sources in Karachi said
Sunday.

The
capture of Gadahn becomes the starkest signal yet that Pakistan has
decided to ratchet up its cooperation with the U.S. in hunting down
Islamic militants. In the last two months, Pakistani security forces
have seized several top Afghan Taliban commanders, including the
insurgency’s second in command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

Read more about the reported arrest of Adam Gadahn in this story from L.A. Times staff writer Alex Rodriguez.

[Updated at 8:30 p.m.: As of late Sunday, U.S. officials said
the reports could not be confirmed. American intelligence agencies
spent the day sorting out conflicting reports on the purported arrest
of Adam Gadahn of Riverside. By late Sunday night, U.S. officials said
the picture remained unclear.

“In terms of who may have been arrested, the Pakistani rumor mill
belched out three very different possibilities in about six hours,” one
U.S. official said. “That should tell you something right there. It’s
by no means clear who, if anyone, the Pakistanis may have captured.”]

— Anna Gorman

A 39-year-old man suspected of shooting his girlfriend was taken into custody Sunday after barricading himself inside a Tarzana apartment complex for 10 hours, authorities said.

Los Angeles police officers responded to an apparent domestic violence incident about 4 a.m. in the 18500 block of Hatteras Street and found a female victim with a gunshot wound, Officer Karen Rayner said. The officers were fired upon, but no one was hit.

The woman, 40, was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was in serious condition.

The man refused to come outside, and a SWAT team was called to the scene, Rayner said. About 1 p.m., officers were considering a tactical tool such as tear gas to draw out the gunman, who had spoken with a SWAT team negotiator.

Less than an hour later, the suspect was taken into custody without incident. Officers did not fire their guns throughout the standoff.

Residents of the complex and the surrounding area who were evacuated have been allowed to return to their homes.

–Corina Knoll

Two separate high tides flooded several Orange County coastal cities Sunday morning, forcing sections of Pacific Coast Highway to close.

At about 8:30 a.m., water flooded all lanes of the highway near the main entrance to Bolsa Chica State Beach, Huntington Beach Police Lt. Mike Reynolds said. Sand and ocean debris blocked the roadways and the southbound lanes were shut down.

Moments later, flooding occurred in Sunset Beach near Anderson Street, forcing that section of the highway to close. After Caltrans set up barriers to divert the water, all lanes of Pacific Coast Highway were opened except the southbound lanes from Warner Avenue to Sea Point Street in Huntington Beach. Reynolds said that area was expected to stay closed throughout the day.

In Seal Beach, lifeguard Alex Parton said the flooding didn’t stop hundreds of people from making their way to the beach, where surfers and body boarders took advantage of waves of up to 10 feet.

A high surf advisory is in effect until 9 p.m.

— Corina Knoll

A man was arrested Sunday on suspicion of kidnapping a 6-year-old boy on a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus, authorities said. [Updated 2:50 p.m.: The child was a girl.]

A homeless woman boarded a bus with her son about 4 a.m. near downtown and fell asleep, Sheriff’s Capt. Mike Parker said. When she woke up, the child was gone, he said.

The woman alerted the driver, who notified the MTA dispatch center and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Transit Services Bureau.

Several passengers were believed to have been on the bus at the time, Parker said.

When authorities put out a bulletin about the incident, a driver on another route called in saying that he had two people matching the description of the man and child on his bus.

Sheriff’s deputies intercepted the bus and arrested the man about 6 a.m., Parker said. The child was returned to his mother. [Updated 2:53 p.m.: The girl was taken into protective custody, not returned to her mother.]

— Andrew Blankstein