Dispatch: "If we don't say anything, they're going to keep killing"

On a typical day, 38-year-old Jaime Carpio is outside El Comal de Mexico, a taco trailer parked in front of a barbershop in Lennox, flattening dough with a tortilla maker while cooking gorditas and chatting with customers. But on the night of Wednesday, April 29, one of his longer shifts, Carpio was inside the trailer assisting other cooks.

"We had a lot of orders that day," Carpio said.

About 10:40 p.m., authorities said, an unidentified man armed with a semiautomatic rifle stood at the corner of Inglewood and Lennox boulevards and fired at the crowd in front of the trailer, authorities said.

"It sounded like firecrackers,"  Carpio said. "I looked out through the window and saw people throwing themselves on the ground." The gunfire struck and killed Amado Cendejas Sr., a 59-year old Latino, of Los Angeles.Two boys, a woman and two other men were wounded in the shooting and are expected to survive,  Los Angeles County Sheriff's officials said.

The gunman then fled in a vehicle.

Placing his right hand over his heart, Carpio said the shooting didn't frighten him. But "I was angry," he said. "I was angry to see people lying on the ground wounded."

Carpio said Cendejas was a mariachi guitar player. Over the last six months, he and his band would play at the local bars, restaurants and taco stands in the area.

"They would come every Tuesday and Wednesday to eat here," Carpio said, smiling. "We would joke with them, we'd tell them 'we'll give you five tacos for five songs.' "

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lt. Pat Nelson said the gunman had no specific target. Three suspects were taken into custody the next day.

"Deputies were in the area and saw the vehicle speeding away," Nelson said, adding that an abandoned weapon believed to have been used in the shooting was also found in the area.

Authorities did not immediately identify the individuals arrested in connection with the taco truck shooting.

"If we don't say anything, they're going to keep killing," Carpio said. The shooting, he said, was the first major incident at the taco trailer. In the past, he said, people have thrown water balloons, eggs or paintballs at the trailer from passing vehicles.

Despite the killing of Cendejas, customers returned to the small trailer the next day.

Less than 24 hours after the shooting, Carpio was back to his routine, chatting with customers, occasionally trying to speak over the engines from the planes descending into LAX.

-- Ruben Vives

Photo: Curbside memorial to Amado Cendejas Jr. near the site of his shooting in Lennox. Credit: Sarah Ardalani/Los Angeles Times

Comments

[missin linq]

this is a pitiful excuse for a individual.this is not the first either.how many times have a coward fired into a crowd of people and never ever hit their target.dont get me wrong im not saying its different if they did hit a target,but how can a so called gangster justify shooting into a crowd.like child molesters they should be delt with with swift justice.no appeals.the dead and injured dont get second chance why should they...?

[Southoc]

Was there a gang member at the truck, or was it a mafia thing to intimidate? Rival taco trucks?

[John Padilla]

I am familiar with that intersection and that area where this happened, I believe security camera's should be installed in that area ....

another point is that basically the cops do not care what happens over there ....

its an area I would go to unless I had protection on me ... because .. as the saying goes .. the cops are never around and I certainly ... appreciate them but they are out numbered by the local vigilante groups called gangs.

[DAME-O]

WHAT A SHAME!! I'M GLAD THEY CAUGHT THESE IDIOTS. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES OF THE KILLED AND INJURED..

[Ruben Vives]

Hi, this is Staff Writer Ruben Vives, in response to Southoc's question, according to the lead detective in this case there were no gang members at the taco stand at the time of the shooting. A motive has not been established either.

thanks for reading.

[Rick]

The suspect just walked up and "sprayed" the area with gunfire from a semi automatic rifle. What a cowardly act. Now, an innocent man is shot and killed and others are wounded. What can you say, completely senseless.

[Mario]

The gang members are not the problem, its the cowards that have been intimidated to surrender their communities, their families, and their friends to them.

Don't wait until something like this happens to your loved one, take a stand before if gets out of hand.

If residents would use the resources available to combat the problem... The neighborhoods would be much safer places to live.

Wetip, and local police websites make available a place to report criminals, crime, and drug dens without taking the stand and testifying.

If you cant beat them, let someone that can do it for you.

If your running from the gang problem, and it seems to follow you everywhere you go, than it is probably someone in your family, if that is the case, please stay where you are....

[John]

Ruben V-

Police often say there are "no gang members" at a location, but any objective observer would disagree.

We have drive-by shootings on my street every year or two, at the same address, with the same targets. The police insist "they are not gang members", despite the fact that I see them tagging local buildings with their gang call letters.

We have local government that caters to illegal aliens and panders to spanish speakers. The gang shootings are collateral damage for this policy. It is shameful that illegal alien advocates essentially provide cover for gang members, but that's the effect when police officers are told not to check immigration status when they detain someone.