At least two arrested in slaying of Venice youth pastor

 

At least two people were in custody Monday in connection with the killing of Venice resident and popular youth pastor Oscar Duncan, Los Angeles police said.  

The Los Angeles Police Department did not immediately release the identity of the suspects, the circumstances surrounding the arrests or say if others would be arrested in connection with the crime.

Police believe that about four males drove up in a white car last week and jeered at Duncan's girlfriend as the two were standing on a Venice street. Authorities say the assailants shouted a gang name as one of them fired a single shot, striking Duncan in the head.

Duncan, 23, was homecoming king and football captain at Venice High School and a youth minister for his Compton church. Police had said they believe the act was random. Duncan was not part of a gang and had no criminal record, authorities said. The attackers were believed to have been gang members.

The LAPD and City Councilman Bill Rosendahl offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

"It's totally unfair," Duncan's brother Curtis Nettles said last week. "He died for something he stood against."

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-- Andrew Blankstein and Matt Stevens