Police: 3 suspects detained in 4 separate Altadena shootings
ALTADENA, Calif. - Four separate shootings occurred on Sunday afternoon in Altadena leaving three people wounded, and Pasadena police stopped a vehicle and detained three men who matched the description of the suspects in the shootings, authorities said.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department reported gang detectives later took three men into custody whose names were not immediately available.
According to a release from the LA County Sheriff’s Department, "Officers from the Pasadena Police Department detained a vehicle with three male black adults in it, which matched the description of the suspects described in the earlier shootings. Detectives from Altadena Station and Operations Safe Street Bureau responded and took the suspects into custody in connection with the shootings. There is no additional information at this time.
The shootings began about 12:10 p.m., Deputy Morgan Arteaga said.
The Los Angeles Sheriff Department's Altadena station issued an alert to locate the three men in silver or gray possible Nissan Maxima suspected in a number of random shootings.
The first shooting happened in the 3100 block of Santa Anita Avenue and left a 49-year-old man wounded, Arteaga said.
"We heard the first shot, and we tried to look, and then second, third, fourth shot," said witness Mamdiuh Mbarkeh, who was doing contract work at Johnny’s Liquor when bullets shattered the store’s glass door. Thankfully, no one was standing next to it at the time, and no one was hurt.
The second occurred in the 2600 block of Fair Oaks Avenue about 30 minutes after the first, Arteaga said. No one at that shooting was hit by gunfire.
A third shooting took place in the 3100 block of Olive Avenue about 10 minutes after the second, she said. In that attack, a 31-year-old man was hit by gunfire.
The victims were transported to a hospital and expected to survive, Arteaga said.
A fourth shooting happened just after 5 p.m. in the 200 block of West Harriet Street, Arteaga said. One man was wounded in the lower chest, transported to a hospital by paramedics and is expected to survive.
Earlier Sunday, deputies said they believed the gunman was with two other males and was sitting in the backseat of a silver or grey car, possibly a Nissan Maxima. Around 7 p.m., a silver Nissan Altima was towed from a restaurant parking lot on Fair Oaks Avenue just south of the liquor stores, but deputies could not confirm whether the car related to the shootings.
Investigators from the sheriff's Operation Safe Streets Bureau - which deals with gangs - is assisting in the investigation, but authorities have not said whether they believe the shootings were gang-related.
Anyone with information on the suspects and these shootings was asked to call the LASD's Altadena station at 626-798-1131. Tipsters can also call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
CNS contributed to this report.
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