As the wife and three children of slain Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Juan Abel Escalante solemnly looked on, top law enforcement and city officials announced Saturday that two men had been arrested in the deputy's shooting death, although the motive in the killing is unclear.
The two suspects -- Guillermo Hernandez, 20, and Carlos Velasquez, 24 -- were described by Los Angeles Police Department sources as well-known members of the notorious Avenues gang, which has long feuded with the Cypress Park gang whose territory includes the northeast Los Angeles neighborhood where Escalante lived.
Hernandez and Velasquez were booked on murder charges after their arrest late Friday night and are being held without bail.
Despite the suspects' gang affiliation, investigators still don't know why Escalante was shot near the 3400 block of Thorpe Avenue on Aug. 2. At Saturday's news conference, police did not say whether the shooting was a random attack or Escalante was targeted.
"We are still seeking additional information," said Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton, adding that the investigation has been "very, very, very difficult." He said police were aided by tipsters.
There is still "an effort to search for additional suspects that may have been involved in the murder of Escalante," according to a police statement.
Escalante, 27, who worked at the Men's Central jail guarding some of the county's most dangerous inmates, was gunned down outside his parents' Cypress Park home about 5:40 a.m. as he prepared to go to work. He was adjusting a child's car seat in a vehicle when he was shot in the back of the head.
Celeste Escalante heard the gunfire, looked out her window and saw her husband lying on the ground. Escalante was a 2 1/2 year-veteran of the sheriff's department and had served in the U.S. Army Reserve.
"When one of us is brutally killed, all of us grieve," Sheriff Lee Baca said at Saturday's news conference. "Hopefully, this will lift some of the pain that's on your shoulders," Baca said, speaking to Celeste Escalante, who stood onstage with her two young sons, daughter and in-laws.
A joint task force of LAPD robbery-homicide detectives, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's homicide bureau members and members of the Los Angeles High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas unit have been investigating the case.
