PASADENA >> An attacker or attackers opened fire into a group of people gathered at a homicide victim’s vigil in Pasadena late Friday, leaving two men dead and two other victims wounded, police said.
The deadly drive-by shooting took place at 11:53 p.m. at Fair Oaks Avenue and Claremont Street, as a group of people was gathered for a vigil for the victim of a previous fatal shooting that took place in the same neighborhood on Dec. 22, Pasadena police Lt. Mark Goodman said.
“Unknown suspects shot from a vehicle into the group gathered for the vigil,” he said. “Four people were shot.”
A 24-year-old Pasadena man was found wounded around the corner on Pepper Street and pronounced dead at the street, officials said.
A 37-year-old Pasadena woman wounded by the gunfire managed to make her way across the street to a Pasadena Fire Department Station 36, where paramedics treated her before taking her to a hospital. She was listed in critical condition.
Two additional gunshot victims, a 24-year-old man and a 25-year-old man, were placed into a private car by others who were at the vigil, Goodman said.
A woman attempted to drive the men to a hospital, but became involved in a crash at California Boulevard and St. John Avenue, authorities said. The car struck another car before hitting a fixed object.
Authorities responding to the crash scene pronounced the 24-year-old gunshot victim dead at the scene, Goodman said. The second wounded man was hospitalized in stable condition.
The woman at the wheel of the car was treated for non-life-threatening injuries suffered in the crash.
The identities of the men who died in the shooting were not available Saturday pending positive identification and notification of their families, Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner Lt. David Smith said.
No suspect description was available, nor was a description of the vehicle from which the shots were fired, Goodman said. The motive in the attack was also unclear.
“We are having difficulty locating cooperative witnesses,” Goodman said.
The vigil came in the wake of the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Brandon Douglas of Pasadena.
He died after he was found lying wounded on a sidewalk in the 1200 block of North Fair Oaks Avenue, according to Pasadena police Lt. Vasken Gourdikian. No suspect description or motive was known.
And the violence did not end Friday night.
Police returned to the same neighborhood about 4:45 p.m. on Saturday after a man was shot at Claremont Street and Fair Oaks Avenue, police and fire officials said.
Police encountered a 25-year-old Pasadena man who had been shot in the thigh, Goodman said.
He was hospitalized in serious-but-stable condition and expected to survive, officials said. No further details regarding the circumstances of the shooting were available.
Anyone with information can reach Pasadena police at 626-744-4241. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

PHOTOS by James Carbone