PICO RIVERA — A 28-year-old Pico Rivera woman died late Wednesday after being shot in a residential neighborhood, authorities said.
The woman’s name was not released early Thursday pending positive identification and confirmation that her family had been notified, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Assistant Chief of Operations Ed Winter said.
The fatal shooting took place just before 9:45 p.m. in a residential driveway along Church Street, just south of Underwood Street, according to officials and neighbors.
Though early reports from Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said the woman had just exited a vehicle when shot, the investigation Thursday afternoon indicated she was walking down the street, Sgt. Scott Hoglund of the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said.
Several neighbors said they initially mistook what sounded like five or more gunshots for especially loud fireworks, which have been common in the neighborhood as Independence Day approaches.
“The giveaway was the car that sped away,” said one nearby resident, who asked that her name be withheld for fear of retaliation.
After hearing the sounds of gunshots and an accelerating vehicle, the resident said she looked out the window to see a white Dodge Magnum with tinted windows speeding east on Underwood Street.
“I heard a lady screaming for help,” the woman said. Upon looking, she said she saw the wounded woman lying on the ground, and a panicked woman nearby yelling, “Help, help, help.”
“No one saw anything. It happened so quick,” she said.
She added that she and other neighbors did not know the woman.
“The suspect is described as a male Hispanic and is still outstanding,” sheriff’s officials said in a written statement. “The incident appears to be gang-related.”
No further description of the killer was available, Hoglund said. Detectives were still looking into whether the shooting victim herself had gang ties.
She was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where she died from her wounds at 10:33 p.m., Winter said.
Sheriff’s officials released no further details.
Jessica Villalobos, who lives in the home connected to the driveway where the shooting took place, said her family had no idea who the woman was, or how she ended up fatally wounded in their driveway.
Anyone with information was asked to contact the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.