IRWINDALE – Authorities named the man found dead near Rivergrade Road February 17.

Jeric Wauford, 26, was identified by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. He died of a gunshot wound of the abdomen. His death is listed as a homicide.

Wauford was found dead around 11:30 a.m. along Rivergrade Road near Brooks Drive, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau, which is leading the investigation.

It is not publicly clear how authorities were alerted to the shooting, or even when the shooting may have occurred.

Anyone with information on this shooting is urged to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Information can be provided anonymously by calling LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), through the P3Tips mobile app, or lacrimestoopers.org.

IRWINDALE – The sound of gunfire led police to a man accused of firing a handgun at a home after some sort of verbal tiff at an early-morning Christmas party.

No one was reported injured in the shooting. Arrested was Los Angeles man Jorge A. Alvarez, 36. Alvarez was booked on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm in a vehicle and possession of a controlled substance after the weapon, gun clips and spent shell casings were found in the truck, according to the Irwindale Police Department.

A patrol officer in the area of Tapia Street and 4th Street heard a volley of gunfire in a neighborhood south of his location around 2:23 a.m. December 25. As backup arrived, another officer heard additional gunfire mid-block on Fraijo Avenue, according to the Irwindale Police Department.

A speeding black Dodge pickup truck was spotted and officers stopped the driver at Cypress Street and Irwindale Avenue. The driver and Alvarez were detained. 9-1-1 callers reported gunfire had just occurred in the 4600 block of Fraijo Avenue, according to the Irwindale Police Department.

“Additional officers responded to that location and discovered a dispute at a holiday party between the passenger of the pick-up truck and occupants of the residence resulted in the pick-up truck passenger firing a number of gunshots upon leaving the residence. The suspect entered the pick-up truck with a second subject driving. The suspect fired additional gunshots towards the house as they left the area,” according to the Irwindale Police Department in a written statement.

Alvarez was booked on suspicion of the above-mentioned crimes and posted $35,000 bail.

Anyone with information that can aid the investigation is urged to call Irwindale Police Detective Detective Diego Cornejo at 626-430-2290 or by email at [email protected]. Information can be provided anonymously by calling LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), through the P3Tips mobile app, or lacrimestoppers.org.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

IRWINDALE - Police arrested a man September 8 accused of firing upon motorists along the 210 freeway as he headed westbound into Irwindale where he caused more chaos.

Police responded to the 600 block of Live Oak Avenue around 6:37 a.m. to a call of an armed man holding an ambulance driver and his coworker at gunpoint. the driver fled, but officers found the suspect in a red 2015 Peterbilt semi at Live Oak Avenue and Myrtle Avenue and attempted a traffic stop, but the driver refused, according to the Irwindale Police Department.

The suspect committed several dangerous violations of the California Vehicle Code during a slow speed chase. He briefly escaped on foot after stopping at Peck Road and Wayland Way in Monrovia, but he was taken into custody.

“The officers were forced to physically detain the suspect, during which an electro-muscular disruption technology (EMDT) device was successfully deployed. He was then arrested without further incident,” according to the Irwindale Police Department in a written statement.

Officers recovered a loaded handgun from the suspect, according to the Irwindale Police Department.

Investigators learned the suspect, identified as 37-year-old Jonathan Gomez from El Paso, Texas, brandished the handgun and fired it at at least two motorists.

“In one instance, the suspect fired upon a disabled motorist, forcing him to run across the freeway and in another instance, the suspect fired into an occupied vehicle, striking the vehicle with gunfire. Luckily no one was injured in any of these incidents,” according to the Irwindale Police Department.

Gomez was medically cleared and eventually jailed. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail. He potentially faces charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, resisting arrest, evading arrest, driving under the influence of drugs and a number of weapons violations, according to the Irwindale Police Department.

Anyone with information on these incidents is asked to call Irwindale Police Detective Diego Cornejo at 626-430-2290 or at [email protected]. Information can be provided anonymously by calling LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, through the P3Tips mobile app, or lacrimestoopers.org.

IRWINDALE – The man and woman struck by gunfire from a dark-colored vehicle August 12 were hospitalized with injuries considered not life-threatening, police said.

Irwindale Police responded to the northwest corner of Arrow Highway and Vincent Avenue around 11:07 p.m.  to investigate the shooting. The man and woman who were shot while inside a vehicle were taken to a local hospital, according to Sgt. Rudy Gatto of the Irwindale Police Department.

It was not immediately clear Monday morning if any suspect was identified or in custody.

IRWINDALE – Two people were transported to local hospitals after a shooting incident Thursday.

​The shooting took place in the area of Arrow Highway and Vincent Avenue, according to Sgt. Rudy Gatto of the Irwindale Police Department.

Additional information from the Irwindale Police Department is forthcoming.

Firefighters were dispatched just after 11 p.m. to Vincent Avenue and Arrow Highway to treat the wounded, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatch reports.

Initially, Azusa Police responded to the scene and summoned Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies to the scene to determine jurisdiction, ultimately yielding to Irwindale Police, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s radio traffic.

The condition of the wounded people was not publicly known.​

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

IRWINDALE – The California Highway Patrol is investigating a road rage incident that led to a weapon brandishing and possible gunfire.

One person is detained, but not under arrest yet in the incident. It is not immediately clear if any ballistic evidence was found at the scene to corroborate the alleged victim’s claim of a shooting, according to Officer Alexander Ramondo of the California Highway Patrol Southern Division.

The CHP was called to the off ramp from the east 210 freeway to Irwindale Avenue at 7:55 a.m. July 1. No one was injured.

According to preliminary details, a road rage incident occurred and as both the alleged victim and suspect stopped on the off ramp, the victim reported walked to the suspect to confront him, Ramondo told SGV CityWatch.

“The victim claimed the suspect brandished a gun and fired,” Ramondo told SGV CityWatch.

The off ramp was closed and taped off while the CHP, with assistance from the Irwindale and Azusa police departments, investigated the incident.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

IRWINDALE - An Azusa man was taken to a local trauma center with a gunshot wound, one that he reportedly received on the southbound 605 freeway, Saturday night.

The shooting reportedly took place on the southbound 605 north of Arrow Highway around 11:23 p.m. June 5. The 30-year-old Azusa man was shot once, according to the California Highway Patrol Baldwin Park Office.

The suspect was described as a man on a black motorcycle and wearing a black vest. A handgun was reportedly used, according to the California Highway Patrol.

While possibly having been shot north of Arrow Highway on the freeway, the victim likely ended up closer to Lower Azusa Road.

CHP officers arrived to the southbound 605 freeway at Lower Azusa and reported a gunshot victim there, according to CHP radio traffic.

Los Angeles County firefighters were also dispatched to the southbound 605 freeway at Lower Azusa Road, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatch posts.

This is the second shooting incident to have taken place on the southbound 605 freeway in the area Saturday. Earlier in the afternoon, a white BMW crashed into the center divider at Lower Azusa Road just after 5 p.m.. The victims claim they were shot at. A search of the freeway later yielded evidence that a shooting did take place, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Anyone with information on the late-night shooting is urged to call Officer Flagg-Martin of the CHP Baldwin Park Office at 626-338-1164.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

IRWINDALE - A victim was robbed of a backpack and was shot in the face near the border with Duarte Monday morning.

The victim was attacked walking east along the 3000 block of Huntington Drive over the San Gabriel riverbed around 2:30 a.m. June 22.

Two men in a dark-colored four-door sedan approached the victim. A passenger exited and tried to pull away the victim’s backpack, according to Sgt. Rudy Gatto of the Irwindale Police Department.

The victim and suspect fell to the ground and struggled for the backpack. They both rose to their feet and continued struggling.

“At that point, the driver of the vehicle, also a male adult, pointed a black revolver out of the passenger window and fired one gunshot at the victim, striking him in the face/cheek,” Gatto said in a written statement.

The victim gave up his backpack and both suspects fled in the sedan east on Huntington Drive to Foothill Boulevard and disappeared from view, Gatto said.

The victim was treated for his injuries and was later released.

Both suspects were described as black males in their mid-20s. Both wore dark clothing.

Anyone with information on the shooting is urged to call Detective M. Campos at 626-430-2239, or email [email protected]. Information can be provided anonymously by calling LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, through the P3 Tips mobile app or at lacrimestoppers.org.

IRWINDALE - Charges were formally brought against a man and 16-year-old boy, both accused of attempted murder in an October 15 shooting.

Detectives developed information leading to the identification and arrest of 23-year-old Joshua Noel Gomez and the teen boy. Both were formally charged by the los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office December 17, according to the Irwindale Police Department.

Gomez, a West Covina resident, and the teen are both documented gang members. They were charged with two counts of attempted murder and shooting at an occupied vehicle.

IRWINDALE - Two people escaped injury after a gunman shot at them October 15.

The shooting took place around 11:10 p.m. in the 4600 block of Nora Avenue. A vehicle occupied by three people stopped in front of a home on Nora Street. One occupant exited and fired at the intended victims, Irwindale Police said.

Nine shots were fired. Only the victims’ vehicle was hit, Irwindale Police said.