VAN NUYS : Masters Greeted by Noisy Protesters

A Sun Valley man who shot and killed a tagger and wounded another was greeted Tuesday morning by a small but loud group of protesters as he entered Van Nuys Municipal Court.

But after his hearing on gun possession charges was continued to next month, William Andrew Masters II was whisked through a courthouse back door to avoid the protesters and reporters.

Masters is charged with misdemeanor counts of carrying a concealed weapon and carrying a loaded weapon. He faces a maximum sentence of 18 months in jail if convicted.

The charges stem from a Jan. 31 incident in which Masters, while taking his usual late night walk, confronted two men scrawling graffiti beneath a freeway overpass in Sun Valley. Masters told police that he pulled out a gun he was carrying in a fanny pack and shot the two men when one of them tried to rob him with a screwdriver.

Cesar Rene Arce, 18, was killed and David Hillo, 20, was shot in the buttocks. Hillo recovered from his wound and was charged with vandalism.

The protesters, a group calling itself Four Winds Student Student Movement, staged a mock funeral and candlelight vigil Monday night. Tuesday morning, the protesters exchanged words with people entering the courton other business.

The protesters said Masters should be tried for murder for killing Arce. The district attorney’s office declined to file felony charges against Masters, calling the shooting self-defense.