Dispute at Baldwin Park AA meeting ends with woman shot in the head

Baldwin Park leads the day’s news:

BALDWIN PARK – An argument between two men during an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting led to a woman being shot in the head Thursday night.

Officers are looking for the shooter.

Baldwin Park police Lt. Joe Bartolotti said the woman is the wife of one of the men.

The shooting broke out about 7:30 p.m. in a church parking lot at Stewart Avenue and Los Angeles Street.

Bartolotti said the men got into a fight during an AA meeting held at the church. He didn’t know what the dispute was about.

The fight spilled into the parking lot. Bartolotti said one of the men pulled out a gun and fired once.

The round didn’t hit the other man who police said was the intended target. The man’s wife who was sitting in a car was shot instead.

Police weren’t sure if the husband was also inside the car at the time of the shooting.

The vehicle rolled across the street and came to rest at the curb.

Bartolotti said the woman was taken to Los Angeles County USC Medical Center where she was listed in stable condition.

The suspect fled the scene. He was only described as a Latino about 20 wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and jeans.

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Shades of Ebony Huell — 17-year-old shot in head at Pasadena Party

PASADENA – A 17-year-old girl remained in critical condition Sunday after being shot in the head at a party, authorities said.
The shooting occurred about 10:30 p.m. Saturday at a large house party in the 500 block of Westgate Street, Pasadena police Lt. Tom Delgado said.
Few details were available about the shooting Sunday, the lieutenant said. A description of the shooter or a motive in the attack was not known.
“At this point, it’s really mind-boggling to understand why someone would want to shoot a 17 year old female at this party,” Delgado said. “It’s very puzzling.”
Authorities estimated more than 100 people were at the party when shots rang out.
The shooting occurred outdoors, Delgado said, however the victim, a Los Angeles resident, collapsed at the door of the home as she tried to get inside.
The wounded woman was not believed to have gang ties, he added.
Police had not responded to any calls at the party prior to the shooting, Delgado said.
Detectives continued gathering clues and interviewing witnesses Sunday.

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El Monte grad night party ends with slaying

Details still streaming in from this one. Essentially a 20-year-old man was shot to death early this morning outside a graduation party he was attending in El Monte. There is speculation at the scene that the man caught a bullet that wasn’t intended for him. 

No memorials have been established at the scene and Sheriff’s homicide investigators have yet to return calls. Here’s what we know now:

EL MONTE – A man was shot to death about 1 a.m. Thursday outside a graduation party, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials said.

The Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau is investigating the death of a 20-year-old man who was shot in the street at the corner of Fairview Street and Elrovia Avenue.

The victim was taken to USC-Medical Center and was pronounced dead at the hospital, officials said. 
Neighbors said the party started following Arroyo High School’s graduation. The school is at the other end of Fairview Street, just a block away.
Residents of the home hosting the party said no one in their family was harmed in the shooting.

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Covina shooting details emerge — arrest made

Police believed this shooting was gang related — perhaps Azusa 13 vs West Covina Mob Pirus. In any event, an arrest was made. Here’s this morning’s story:

COVINA – Covina police made an arrest yesterday in connection with a shooting that occurred Tuesday afternoon near Las Palmas Middle School, according to officials.

Carlos Pineda, 20, of Azusa was arrested on suspicion of shooting and injuring two young men in the 500 block of Lark Ellen Avenue, according to Covina police Sgt. Dave Foster.

Both men were shot in the leg, fled across the grounds of the school and took refuge in a nearby apartment. A third man with them escaped injury, according to Covina Sgt. David Povero.

No other arrests have been made.

Pineda is in the custody of Covina police. Foster said Pineda will be charged with assault with a deadly weapon

 

 

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Is it safe to walk in Old Pasadena?

You would think that in the weeks leading up to the Tournament of Roses parade that Pasadena PD would have a better handle on the streets of Old Pasadena. Apparently not.

Last year about this time there was a shooting after a drug deal went bad.

Last night a guy was reportedly stabbed by a panhandler.

So here’s the Crime Scene question of the day …

Is Old Pasadena safe?

 

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Home on the range (Thursday’s column)

I thought Wednesday would be a good day to fire off some rounds at the La Puente shooting range.

After all, its been widely reported that when President-elect Barack Obama takes office, the Second Amendment will be crumpled up and tossed in a round file somewhere.

That means now is the time to stock up on supplies.

At the La Puente shooting range on Valley Boulevard, a guy (or girl) with a similar interest can blow off rounds to his (or her) heart’s content – daily.

My plan was to rent a handgun, get a lane and fire away.

First problem was choosing a gun.

There were plenty of semiautomatic handguns: Glocks, SIGs, Rugers, Smith & Wessons. And, the guns varied in size. You could rent a .40, a .380 or a 9 mm.

Personally it had been so long since I fired a handgun, I found the selection a little intimidating.

So, I gravitated toward the revolvers. .38s .357s and the most powerful handgun of all, the .44 magnum. As Dirty Harry said, “It will blow your head clean off.”

I figured a gun that powerful has got to be on somebody’s list for removal from general circulation. So, I asked for some rounds of ammo and a hour’s rental.

Guy behind the counter said, “no way.”

“Why?”

“Sheriff’s Department rules,” he explained. “There’s got to be two of you.”

“What?”

“You’ve got to bring a friend in before you can rent it,” counter guy said.

I explained my


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situation.

“I’m a reporter. I’m doing a story on gun rights, and I thought firing one off on my lunch hour might give the story some cachet.”

“Nope. You got to bring a friend,” he answered.

“OK,” I said. “How about I call the office and have a guy come down with a video camera. Would that be all right?

He could shoot me, while I shoot the .44 magnum.”

“You could do that,” he explained. “But you can’t take video of anyone else shooting a gun; no video of anyone that works here and no shots of the rental counter either.”

I thought to myself that might work. But, in the middle of my daydreaming, counter guy had another caveat.

“My boss doesn’t like the news media in here,” he said. “So I doubt you would be able to do anything here, including using the range when your friend shows up.”

Bang.

A glass partition separates the showroom floor from the firing range. I turned and watched a young woman clank off rounds at a menacing silhouette.

Another bang. I see a cartridge fly out. It lands on the floor.

Trigger squeeze. Bang. Another cartridge.

Four or five times the scene repeated itself.

My eyes slowly moved from the gun to the target itself, about 10 feet in front of her. It didn’t look like she had hit it.

I obviously wasn’t going to hit anything either, so I left the showroom as counter guy was explaining the rules to a couple of young guys who I thought said they wanted to fire off a .40 SIG Sauer.

In the parking lot, I hoped to encounter some NRA types. They weren’t around.

There was only a tiny American flag on a small pole waving in the warm breeze.

What more could I ask for?

Frank Girardot is metro editor of the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group.

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BP shooting outside High School leaves man wounded

A 15-year-old armed with a shotgun on Puente Avenue accidentally shot his 18-year-old companion, police said.

Anyway, here’s the story as we’re reporting it:

BALDWIN PARK — An 18-year-old man remains in stable condition this morning after being accidentally shot by a friend Thursday, officials said.

Police are not releasing the man’s name but said Friday his wounds are not life threatening, according to Baldwin Park Police Lt. David Reynoso.

Around 3:47 p.m. the man was among friends in the garage of a residence watching television on the 3900 block of Puente Avenue, officials said.

One of the friends – a 15-year-old boy – allegedly had a shotgun, which police believe he accidentally discharged, striking the 18-year-old in the upper torso, Reynoso said.

The 15-year-old was arrested and booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a shotgun, police said.

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