The Daily News of Los Angeles
One shooting suspect died and three others were injured late Sunday when their speeding car triggered a chain-reaction crash at the end of a police pursuit, authorities said Monday.
With an LAPD helicopter hovering overhead, the suspects sped east on Saticoy Street and ran a red light at Mason Street in Winnetka, authorities said. Their 1998 Toyota Camry was clipped by a northbound pickup truck, sending the black sedan careening into the front of a Ford Expedition parked curbside on Saticoy.
Five vehicles parked behind the Expedition were pancaked by the force of the crash, said LAPD Sgt. Sean Carmody.
The dead man, identified as Joel Gomez, 19 of Canoga Park, was riding in the rear passenger seat at the time of the 11:50 p.m. crash, officials said.
One of the other suspects suffered critical injuries while a third was hospitalized in stable condition, officials said. The fourth was treated for minor injuries.
Authorities said they believe all of the suspects are gang members. Their names were not released.
Authorities said they recovered a small-caliber automatic pistol at the scene.
LAPD Detective Joel Price said the incident began about 11:30 p.m. Sunday, when two of the suspects shouted racial slurs and fired at two black men standing in front of an apartment building in the 7400 block of Canby Street in Reseda.
Both bystanders fled, although one suffered a gunshot wound to the thigh, Price said.
Moments later, officers in an LAPD patrol car tried to stop the Camry as it sped along Roscoe Boulevard, but the driver took off. The officers pursued the sedan but backed off as it neared the busy intersection of Saticoy and De Soto Avenue, letting the police helicopter monitor the situation.
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