Gene Blevins photos
NORTH HOLLYWOOD -- Two people were shot dead and five others were wounded by gunfire in three separate shootings Tuesday night that had police searching neighborhoods door to door for gunmen, finding one suspect in a backyard.
The two fatal shootings were related and took place within three blocks of each other in North Hollywood at about 7 p.m., LAPD's Deputy Chief Michel Moore told reporters.
About an hour earlier, a man was shot in Northridge by a gunman riding with a number of men in a car near Wilbur Avenue and Parthenia Street, said LAPD Lt. Bill Maarschalk. His injuries were not life threatening.
Also about the same time, four males were dropped off at a hospital in the Northeast Valley with gunshot wounds, Moore said.
Police said only the two North Hollywood shootings were related. Dozens of officers descended on the area, setting up a perimeter around the intersections of Whitsett Avenue and Oxnard Street, where one victim was found, and Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Vanowen Street, where the other was shot.
Shell casings from a variety of weapons were strewn throughout the area.
"We are just ... putting our arms around this event," Moore said about the fatal shootings.
Officers on patrol heard gunfire at Whitsett and Oxnard and when they sped to the intersection they saw a suspect running away. They lost him, but eventually tracked him down with police dogs to a backyard where he was taken into custody, Moore said.
