Two arrested in shooting death of Santa Ana teen
The 13-year-old was gunned down Wednesday near Santa Ana High School. Police say the suspects, 16 and 18, are gang members - as was the victim.
Two Santa Ana gang members were arrested this morning in the shooting death of a 13-year-old boy, gunned down Wednesday while crossing a street with a group of friends near Santa Ana High School.
Santa Police spokesman Cpl. Jose Gonzalez said the suspects are 16 and 18 and affiliated with a local street gang. He declined to release their identities because of the ongoing investigation.
Gonzalez identified the victim as Rodrigo Valle and said he was also affiliated with a local gang. The 3 p.m. shooting occurred at Walnut and Flower streets, near Santa Ana High School, but Gonzalez said the victim did not attend the school. He declined to release further information about the suspects. Valle, who attended a continuation school, was crossing the street with friends in the presence of other teens walking home from school. Another group of teenagers approached and someone demanded to know his gang affiliation, Gonzalez said.
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When Valle did not answer, he was shot multiple times in the upper torso, police said. Valle was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead at 4:48 p.m. Police did not disclose the name of the hospital for what they said were safety reasons.
The shooting occurred about 20 minutes after classes had let out for the day and while crowds of students were walking home, neighbors said. No one else was hurt.
Gonzalez said the suspects were arrested at 3:15 a.m. and 4:30 this morning. Detectives, he said, recovered a weapon believed to have been used in the shooting.
Chief Paul Walters credited the community for the speedy arrests.
"There was an overwhelming amount of information and support from the community," Walters said. "Our detectives went door to door talking to people and it paid off."
Santa Ana has had an increase in gang shootings this year; a trend that Walters said is also being seen in the state's other 10 largest cities.
"All major cities are seeing the same thing we're experiencing here, and the kids are getting younger," he said.
Berta Estrada, who lives down the block from the shooting scene, said she came out of her house when she heard eight to 10 sounds that she thought were firecrackers.
"I left because I wanted to know who was setting off fireworks," she said.
Estrada said a lot of young people walk around outside the high school in the early afternoon and sometimes they get into fights. "The police are here a lot," she said.
Rick Flores, who lives two houses from the intersection, said he ran outside after he heard the shots for fear it was someone he knew. When he reached the victim, he said, there was a lot of blood and he could not recognize the boy or tell if he was alive.
"He was just a kid," Flores said.
Gang shootings, Flores said, have been a recurring problem in the neighborhood, which is just blocks from Santa Ana City Hall.
"Kids were always getting into fights in the street and the alley after school," he said. "It was only a matter of time before something like this happened."
hgreza@latimes.com
Staff writer Tony Barboza contributed to this report.
