LOS ANGELES, CA – An underage third suspect has been apprehended concerning a fatal shooting rampage that resulted in four deaths, one of them a minor, in a few hours, stated the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Friday.
Authorities provided limited information about the arrested juvenile, only mentioning he was taken into custody in Compton and holds a suspicion of murder charge.
Previously, two men were charged with causal links to the string of shootings that transpired overnight from Sunday to Monday in southeast L.A. County said law enforcement officials on Thursday.
Law enforcement deems the killings to be a “random murder spree,” informed L.A. County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Andrew Meyer at a news conference on Tuesday. Investigators associated the same Honda Pilot vehicle to each crime scene which all happened between 10:30 p.m. on Sunday and 1:55 a.m. on Monday.
The adult defendants, Gary Garcia, 42, and Timberland Wayne McKneely, 20, face charges of four counts of murder and two counts of attempted deliberate, premeditated murder according to the criminal complaint.
The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office highlights that they confront special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and shooting causing death from a motor vehicle.
Though originally set for arraignment on Thursday, Garcia and McKneely saw their court date postponed to February 29, according to the D.A.’s office. The prosecutors seek to keep the suspects in custody without bail, potentially facing life imprisonment without parole if convicted.
Authorities assert both Garcia and McKneely are gang members but did not extend on their supposed affiliations. Connection to the victims appears unlikely.
While Garcia reportedly has an “extensive criminal history,” McKneely does not, said Meyer. Authorities suspect another man’s involvement in the shootings, and he remains at large.
The county medical examiner’s office has named two victims, Kevin Parada, 24, and Javier Pedraza Jr., 14. Another teenager was injured in the shooting that killed Pedraza but is now in stable condition.