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Four people were detained for questioning Thursday in connection with a shooting rampage that left three people dead and two others critically injured at two locations blocks apart in Downey, according to police.
Three men and a woman were taken in for questioning at the Downey Police Station Thursday afternoon, said Lt. Leslie Murray. Three of them were released; one of the men was still being questioned by investigators late Thursday.
No arrests have been made.
At a news conference Thursday night, police identified the victims in the shooting rampage that rocked the community: Josimar Rojas, 26 of Downey; Irene Cardenas, 35, of Cudahy; Susana Perez-Ruelas, 34, of Downey.
On Wednesday morning, shots rang out in two locations on the same Downey street. The first 911 call came in at 11:12 a.m. from a business in the 8700 block of Cleta Street, according to a police press release. Five minutes later, a 911 call came from a home in the 8500 block of Cleta Street.
"It's believed that the family members own both the business and the residence. I'm still not sure of the relationship between the victims at both locations, but it is believed they all are related," Downey police Lt. Dean Milligan said during a Wednesday afternoon news conference.
Two people -- a man and a woman -- died at the business, while another woman was killed at the home. A 13-year-old boy, originally listed in critical condition, has been released from the hospital. A woman remained in critical but stable condition Thursday, police said.
A pair of surveillance cameras monitored the business, identified as United States Fire Protection. Investigators on Thursday were pouring over that footage.
A man fled the scene in a 2010 black Chevrolet Camaro, with California license plate 6LEA010. The vehicle, which belonged to one of the victims, was found in Los Angeles, police said.
Police said the victims did not recognize the shooter, adding that the attack did not appear to be random.
In wake of the tragedy, neighbors praised the family which police say was targeted. Neighbors were shocked by the shootings, describing the triple homicide as something "like in a movie. It doesn't feel real."
Michelle Rivas lives across the street from the family and was home when the gunman opened fire, injuring a teenage boy and killing a woman.
"She was pretty. She was young. Very young. I can't believe that happened to her," Rivas said. "Great mother. She was always cooking -- it's just so hard to talk about her cause she's gone."
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Rivas said she saw the boy emerge from the home covered in blood.
"We didn't know he was shot. He was walking around normal," Rivas said. "Not like, 'owww.' Nothing. He was just going into shock. He was just telling the cops, 'My mom, my mom.'"
At the family business just a few blocks away, neighbors lit candles at a makeshift memorial.
"They were good people," said Felipe Vargas.
"They were good neighbors, absolutely," said Dean Wright, whose business is next door to the family's. "...It just makes you sick to think those kids will be alone."
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Another sensless shooting and we have an idiot candidate like Mitt Romney who claims there is no need for gun control. He is more concerned with taking away women's rights that protecting people against illegal guns and guns in the hands of people who should not have them in the first place. Will it stop all shootings? No, but it will certainly cut down on them. This country has become the wild wild west again.
^ Aaaaand it starts, pathetic really. ^
Anyway, hope they catch whoever is responsible and they are brought to justice.
Great idea to incorporate politics in an article that has NOTHING to do it. Can we please stick to the story and focus on the real problem at hand?
Congratulations for taking a tragedy and turning it into something political.
Actually Mitt, like the NRA and others, are entirely for protecting against the illegal possession of weapons - they're just not prepared to take away law abiding citizen's rights under our Constitution.
My sincerest condolences to the family and victims in their time of grief.
There is no need for gun control.There is a need for stiffer prison sentences,retaining the death penalty in California and shortening of the appeals process.This was a tragic event in a decent community in California.My condolences to the family.Hopefully this young man will, in time, be able to enjoy some semblance of a normal life and be happy once again.
@ SB - New YOrk:
Another senseless comment by someone (an idiot?) who hasn't the slightest idea about the Second Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms.
I don't think you have the slightest idea what the second amendment states. Here it is:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
It doesn't say anything about everyone carrying semi-automatics with limitless ammunition and going on shooting rampages for no reason.
Sam, how can I put this? You're wrong!
Many firearms opponents argue that the Second Amendment's words "right of the people" mean "a right of the state," ignoring the meaning of those same words when used in the First and Fourth Amendments. The "right of the people" to assemble or to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures is not challenged as being an individual guarantee. Yet, they disregard consistency and claim that the right to "bear arms" relates only to military uses. This not only violates a consistent constitutional reading of "right of the people" but it also ignores that the second amendment protects a right to "keep" arms. These detractors insist the amendment's preamble regarding the necessity of a "well regulated militia... to a free state" means that the right to keep and bear arms applies only to a National Guard. Such a reading fails to note that the Framers used the term "militia" as it relates to every citizen capable of bearing arms, and that Congress has established the present National Guard under its power to raise armies, expressly stating that it was not doing so under its power to organize and arm the militia.
From its inception, time and time again, the courts have upheld the phrase “right of the people” to mean the individual citizens of the United States of America.
Please, educate yourself rather than spouting off misinformation.
SB-NEW YOrk-Another sensless shooting and we have an idiot candidate like Mitt Romney
I can't believe the lack of compassion coming from you. First, it isn't a senseless shooting. The person or persons involved KNEW what they were doing. This isn't someone doing a drive by randomly picking out their victims. Next, you put down Romney, but not the people shooting the victims, how idiotic is THAT?. Then how on earth can you be so thoughtless AND insensitive as to stick in your personal POLITICAL agenda when three people have been slaughtered by a cold hearted killer, who even shot a kid. Where is YOUR compassion when you NEED to stick in a jab and just make one tiny reference to this article at all? All you are concerned about is POLITICS? Heaven help anyone who is injured in your life perhaps if this is the extend of your caring. I pray those who loved ones who have lost loved ones are comforted.
My regards go out to the poor teenaged boy that had to witness such a tragedy. I couldn't imagine his and the victims' amount of pain and suffering. It makes me sick to see more and more news posts relating to gruesome shootings and the savage killings human beings.
We just need a zero-tolerance limited appeal time frame policy for these murderers. Give them a year after they are convicted. If they are denied the appeal. Execute them. That should help eliminate some of these crimes.
Must I remind everyone that this kind of thing would happen much less often if POT was legal. Everyone here would have been chilling and singing songs instead of being Angry and hateful.
It's a small point but worth mentioning .. V
...I find it strange that there is not a single article on MSNBC website about recent Libya activities...did I miss? if so can someone tell me where to find...
Oh sooth , you mean like the fact the CIA in Libya asked for permission to help out the guys under attack and were refused 3 times by the Big wigs in charge. Sound like someone wanted to throw them under the bus to get a hot war going in Libya.
http://www.foxnews.com/