A 25-year-old man was charged Friday with capital murder and other counts for allegedly opening fire Tuesday at a gathering of friends in Gardena, killing a woman and injuring two other people before carjacking a married couple and fatally shooting the husband in Lynwood.
Selvin Fabian Salazar — who was arrested in Inglewood a day after the shootings — was ordered to be held without bail while awaiting arraignment Aug. 27 in a Torrance courtroom on two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and one count each of carjacking, kidnapping, dissuading a witness by force or threat and possession of a firearm by a felon.
The murder charges include the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Salazar.
The criminal complaint includes allegations that he personally used and discharged a handgun, inflicted great bodily injury and death, committed the crime in association with a criminal street gang and had a prior felony conviction from 2011 for assault with a firearm.
The violence began around 4 a.m. Tuesday at a mobile home park in the 1200 block of West 135th Street, near Normandie Avenue, where a group of friends had gathered.
Salazar became upset for unknown reasons during the gathering, sheriff’s officials said.
Salazar allegedly fired at a vehicle, striking and killing Dolores Sanchez and injuring a second person inside, along with a third person outside the vehicle, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
After the shooting, the gunman forced a married couple to drive him from the scene in their black Kia Soul, officials said.
When they reached Lynwood, the suspect allegedly fatally shot the husband who was driving the SUV and dragged him out of the vehicle on the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard onramp to the southbound Long Beach (710) Freeway.
The husband was identified by the coroner’s office as Francisco Montes, 28, of Gardena. He is named as the victim in the second murder charge, and his wife — who was not injured — is named as the victim in one of the attempted murder charges.
The suspect tried to shoot the dead man’s wife, but his gun apparently jammed, Lt. John Corina of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
“She’s very lucky to be alive, actually,” Corina said.
Salazar allegedly left the two on the side of the road and drove away, according to prosecutors.
A weapon believed to have been used in the shootings was recovered at the freeway onramp, the sheriff’s department said.
Corina had told reporters that investigators knew who the suspect was, but that they withheld his name while they continued searching for him.
“These are people he knows,” Corina said. “… Why he’s shooting at them, we’re still trying to figure it out.”
Salazar and Montes both belonged to the same gang, Corina told reporters.
Salazar was located about 5 p.m. Wednesday in the 4100 block of Century Boulevard, near Prairie Avenue, in Inglewood, according to Deputy Charles Moore of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
He has remained jailed since then.
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