Two men suspected in a random shooting rampage in southeastern Los Angeles County that left four people dead, including a 14-year-old boy, and two others injured, were charged on Thursday, Feb. 15, with four counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.
Gary Garcia Jr., 42, and Timberland Wayne McKneely, 20, are accused of having “embarked on a random and brutal shooting spree in Bell, Huntington Park, Cudahy and unincorporated areas of L.A. County,” District Attorney George Gascón told reporters during a news conference at his downtown Los Angeles office. (A previous story had McKneely’s name somewhat wrong.)
The victims “all appear to have been targeted randomly as they merely moved about their daily life,” the district attorney said.
Garcia and McKneely could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged.
The first shooting occurred around 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11, in the 6500 block of Bear Avenue in Bell, killing 24-year-old Kevin Parada. A 29-year-old man was also fired upon but not injured.
Shortly after midnight, another shooting, killing a 27-year-old man, occurred Monday in the 1500 block of East Florence Avenue in unincorporated Florence-Firestone.
Two boys were shot a short time later in the 5000 block of Live Oak Street near the Ellen Ochoa Learning Center in Cudahy. One was pronounced dead at the scene.
The fourth shooting occurred about 2:40 a.m. Monday in the 6300 block of Santa Fe Avenue in Huntington Park, near Gage Avenue, hitting a homeless man.
. That man, also Hispanic, was not immediately identified, but Huntington Park Police Department Chief Cosme Lozano said he was known to be a local homeless man who was “simply walking down the street.”
Surveillance video shows a Honda Pilot SUV was at each location around the time of the attacks, with the vehicle pulled over in San Bernardino County and one suspect arrested. Investigators then identified the second suspect. They are…
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