Behind the Badge
A male passenger in a car is expected to survive his injuries after a Garden Grove teenager confronted him for unknown reasons Tuesday afternoon and shot him in the head and back, police said.
The 15-year-old suspect, whose name and picture were not made public, is being held at Juvenile Hall and faces attempted murder charges for the brazen shooting at 3:15 p.m. April 24 in the 9400 block of Westminster Avenue at Bushard Street, the GGPD said in a news release.
The suspect, identified by police as Asian/black, is on probation as a gang member and does not attend Bolsa Grande High School, the news release said.
The victim, 42, is recovering from his injuries at UCI Medical Center in Orange.
According to the GGPD, the victim was sitting in the front passenger seat of a car driven by his girlfriend when the car got stuck in traffic while traveling westbound on Westminster Avenue. Also in the car, in the backseat, was the victim’s daughter, 16.
The suspect, who was on the north sidewalk on Westminster Avenue, started a confrontation with the victim for unknown reasons and then walked over to the car and fired several rounds at the man, according to the news release.
The victim’s girlfriend attempted to drive her wounded boyfriend to the hospital but was asked by GGPD dispatch to pull over so medics could tend to him, which they did.
The suspect was positively identified as the shooter and was arrested, according to the news release.
A small-caliber handgun was recovered.
