Drive-By Killing of Youth Points to Rise in Violent Crime in West Valley

Investigators said a Canoga Park shooting that left one teen-ager dead and another wounded early Sunday apparently stemmed from an escalating conflict between two San Fernando Valley gangs.

The slaying was the latest signal that violent crime has increased markedly in West Valley neighborhoods, police said.

“Things have been on the uprise,” said Joel Price, a robbery-homicide detective in the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division. “I’ve been in here every night since Wednesday because of shootings. This has been an extremely violent week for us.”

If the trend continues, the number of homicides in the area for 1991 probably will surpass last year’s total, authorities said.

Already this year, 10 slayings have occurred in the West Valley, Price said. By contrast the division had 14 homicides during all of 1990. Three or four of this year’s deaths are attributed to gang disputes, while the others resulted from domestic quarrels and other disagreements, he said.

Sunday’s drive-by shooting occurred about 1:45 a.m. in the 21000 block of Hart Street, where gang members were loitering outdoors, Officer Marty Chalupa said. Witnesses told police that a gray or white Toyota van, believed to be a 1987 or 1988 model, drove past and that a passenger fired through the van’s window, hitting two teen-agers.

The wounded youths, both residents of Canoga Park, were driven to a West Valley hospital by their friends. Ruben Rivera, 16, had been hit in the chest and arm and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital, Chalupa said. Gustavo Amescua, 19, was treated for a bullet wound in his leg and was in stable condition Sunday, police said.

Investigators were searching Sunday for the van used in the shooting, which took place across the street from Hart Street Elementary School in a residential area where gang members commonly gather. Officers said that broken glass was found at the shooting scene and that they believe the passenger-side window of the van was broken by rocks or gunfire.

Price said the shooting is believed to be the result of a recent dispute between a Canoga Park gang and a gang based elsewhere in the Valley.

He declined to identify the gangs or the community where the rival gang is based, saying that giving out the information could hinder the investigation.

Detectives said they are uncertain why friction between the two gangs has heightened.

“This is relatively recent,” Price said. “It’s really not a turf war, and it’s not a racial thing--both gangs are Hispanic.”

He said officers hope that Sunday’s incident will not lead to a retaliatory shooting that could further escalate the gang dispute.