Gunfire Kills Youth Who Saw Friend Shot to Death : Gangs: Police say the slayings are part of an inexplicable surge of violence in the Canoga Park neighborhood over the past two months.

A 17-year-old gang member who two months ago watched a friend die in a drive-by shooting was himself killed by gang gunfire in the same Canoga Park neighborhood, Los Angeles police said Tuesday.

Investigators said the shooting death Monday night of Daniel Martinez points up a disturbing, but inexplicable, surge of gang violence in the neighborhood near Canoga Park High School over the last two months.

Since August, police said, members of Martinez’s Latino gang have been involved in several violent incidents, including the racially motivated beating of a black artist who was attacked as she walked her dogs Aug. 28.

“We’re having what seems to be an increase,” Lt. William Gaida said. “But you can’t really predict this kind of thing.”

In Monday’s incident, Martinez was shot about 9:25 p.m. as he tried to escape two carfuls of gang members who confronted him and a friend at a telephone booth near Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Hart Street, Officer Christina Bub said.

Five men were arrested Tuesday afternoon in connection with the shooting, including Kevin Smith, 28, of Canoga Park, who is suspected of driving one of the cars.

The names of the four other men were not available.

The five men apparently believed that Martinez and his companion had stabbed one of their friends a week earlier, Gaida said.

After a brief verbal exchange, some members of Smith’s group grabbed clubs and began chasing Martinez and his friend on foot through the neighborhood. They gave up the pursuit when a patrol car drove past, Gaida said.

After the patrol car left, the gang members cruised through the neighborhood in their cars and spotted Martinez in the 7100 block of Remmet Avenue, Gaida said. They ran him down and shot him in the head, Gaida said. The companion, whose name was not released, was not injured.

On Aug. 4 Martinez witnessed the shooting death of fellow gang member Ruben Rivera, 16, who was gunned down a few blocks away in an unrelated shooting.

Gaida said the gang, which he declined to identify, has been active in the Canoga Park area for decades.