Northridge shooting victims identified as two men, two women
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The four people who were fatally shot outside a Northridge home early Sunday have been identified as two men and two women, authorities said.
No other information was immediately available about the victims, and it was not known if they were residents of the house in the 17400 block of Devonshire Street, said Los Angeles police Capt. William Hayes.
Police received a call of shots fired at the house about 4:25 a.m., Hayes said. Officers arrived to find the four adult victims lying face-down outside the house, police said.
The genesis of the phone call to police was that there was yelling and screaming followed by gunshots, Hayes said.
No weapon was found at the scene and no motive has been established for the shootings, officials said.
The two-story dwelling appears to be an unlicensed boarding house, officials said. There were eight or nine people in the residence at the time of the shooting, Hayes said.
Residents said they were stunned by the shooting in what is normally a quiet and safe neighborhood.
‘It’s usually sleepy-time America,’ said Richard Rutherford, 58.
Crime for the last six months in Northridge:
| Violent crimes (89) | Property crimes (895) |
|---|---|
The violent crime rate for Northridge falls in the middle of all Los Angeles city neighborhoods, but homicide is rare in the community, according to LAPD data analyzed in The Times Crime L.A. database. In the previous six months, Northridge had one homicide among the 89 violent crimes reported. The location of the homicides discovered Sunday is on the border with Granada Hills, which typically has a much lower violent-crime rate than Northridge.
Since 2007 -- prior to Sunday’s quadruple homicide -- Northridge had 11 homicides, all but one south of Nordhoff Street, according to L.A. County coroner’s data compiled in The Times Homicide Report. The most recent took place Sept. 25, when Louis Villegas, 25, was fatally shot near Balboa Boulevard and Parthenia Street. Villegas was riding in a Lexus that had pulled over to the side of the road when a man approached and began shooting. ALSO:
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