Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

VINCENT - Deputies are investigating what led to a stabbing and shooting at a home near Azusa Sunday night.

Two people were wounded by gunfire, one person was stabbed, and another person received minor injuries. The patients were taken to two different hospitals for treatment, according to Yvette Llacuna, dispatch supervisor with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The shooting took place on Banewell Avenue north of East Renwick Road just before 10 pm.f

The motive for the shooting was not publicly known. In a 12:30 a.m. interview with Sgt. Nafissi of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s San Dimas Station, deputies were still trying to figure out what led to the shooting, but witnesses were not willing to talk.

A CityWatch reader reported that a Halloween party may have been taking place at the home when the attacks occurred. People appeared to be wearing costumes as they exited the home.

The suspect description initially given to responding deputies was a Latino man in a ski mask. He wore a black shirt over black shorts.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

LOS ANGELES - Investigators have publicly named a 19-year-old suspect wanted in connection with the double murder of two men and wounding of two others at a Halloween party in unincorporated Covina.

Joel Daniel Garcia Is wanted for attempted murder, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Garcia stands 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighs 160 pounds, has brown hair and brown eyes. Garcia should be considered armed and dangerous.

A large group of people gathered for the Halloween party the night of October 29 in the 17000 block of East Bellbrook Street in Vincent, which is unincorporated Covina.

A fight spilled out into the driveway where the shooting occurred. One victim, identified as 20-year-old Ronnie Benitez, died at the scene. A second victim, 33-year-old Vladimir Umana, died at a hospital. Two other victims were hospitalized and their conditions are not publicly known.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Garcia is urged to call the Los Angeles County sheriffs homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Remain anonymous by calling LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), through the P3Tips mobile app, or lacrimestoppers.org.

VINCENT – The coroner publicly identified one of the two men killed in the October 30 shooting, while family identified the second slain victim.

Ronnie Benitez, 20, was identified by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. Family and friends identified the second victim, 33-year-old Vladimir Umana, who leaves behind two children and a wife.

Benitez died at the scene of the shooting. Umana died at a hospital.

Family members released security footage and images of the melee that spilled out from the home in the 17000 block of Bellbrook Street around 12:20 a.m. October 30.

The fight spilled out onto the driveway where the shooting happened. Detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau believe there is possibly a second suspect. The shooter was seen fleeing west on Bellbrook Street.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

VINCENT - A man is recuperating after being shot in his left hand early Tuesday morning.

Deputies were called to a local hospital August 18 after the shooting took place. The man reported being shot in the area of Cypress Street and Lark Ellen Avenue around 2:30 a.m. August 18, according to Lt. Ed Mackenzie of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s San Dimas Station.

The man was walking with a friend when when a black 90s BMW drove by. One of the group of people inside the car opened fire, Mackenzie told SGV CityWatch.

The people inside the BMW were only described as Hispanic males.

Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor

VINCENT - Four people were detained Thursday morning after a gang warrant service turned violent when at least one suspect opened fire on police officers.
 
The Pomona Police SWAT team assisted Azusa officers with the warrant service at 4 a.m. in the 5500 block of South Lark Ellen Avenue and Gladstone Street in the unincorporated community of Vincent when an unknown number of suspects opened fire from inside the home, Pomona Police said.
 
Pomona SWAT members returned fire from outside the home, but no one was injured in the exchange of bullets.
 
“Within minutes of the shooting, officers were able to make contact with the residents who complied with orders to exit the residence to be detained,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which is handling the officer-involved shooting investigation.
 
Eight simultaneous gang search warrants were served at the home and several other locations, resulting in multiple arrests, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.
 
A search of the home and nearby residences yielded no injuries either.
 
Azusa has seen a spike in shootings and gang activity, which took the lives of a 21-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy. 
 
In May, a man received a non-life-threatening injury when he was shot in the leg in the same area where Thursday’s officer-involved shooting occurred.
 
In late March, a man and woman were injured by gunfire after being fired upon along Highway 39 in the Azusa Canyons. The couple drove down from the mountains and called for aid.
 
It is unclear specifically what recent shooting is related to the warrant service Thursday.

Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor

VINCENT - A shooting victim is expected to survive after being hit by gunfire Monday night.

The shooting took place in the 5500 block of North Lark Ellen Avenue around 9:35 p.m. in Vincent, an unincorporated are near Azusa, according to Lt. Elisabeth Sachs of the San Dimas Sheriff’s Station.

The victim, a male Hispanic, called 9-1-1 and told dispatchers he was shot in the left leg by suspects unknown to him, Sachs said.

It was not immediately known if the victim was on the street or in a home when he was shot, Sachs said.

The suspects, described as two male Hispanics, fled northbound in a white Toyota Camry towards Gladstone Street, Sachs said.

A bullet was fired through a window in a second-story apartment unit nearby. Deputies checked for additional victims, but no other victims were found, according to Sheriff’s radio traffic.

The Camry had no license plates.