A known Long Beach gang member was charged with attempted murder this week in the March 2013 shooting at a gas station that wounded two, including a ten-year-old boy who was in the car while his parents were pumping gas.
Rene Rodriguez, 23, was arrested on an outstanding warrant on Sunday and over the course of the investigation, was found to be connected to the shooting, which occurred at the gas station on Del Amo Blvd. and Long Beach Blvd. on March 23. At around 8PM that night, a shooting broke out between a group of males who were running through the gas station and a stray round entered a vehicle that was parked at a pump, striking the ten-year-old, who was sitting in the back seat, as well as another victim who drove himself to the hospital.
At the time, police had no leads and even released a grainy surveillance video of the incident in the hopes of garnering the public’s help.
With Rodriguez’s arrest, detectives now believe the incident originated on a Long Beach Transit bus with a dispute between Rodriguez, a companion and another adult. After exiting the bus, all three began engaging in a physical fight, during which a fourth adult came to assist in the fighting against Rodriguez and his companion. Rodriguez pulled out a gun and fired two rounds at the fourth adult, striking him in the lower body as well as the ten-year-old.
The child was transported to the hospital in critical condition, but has since made a full recovery. Yesterday, the L.A. District Attorney filed charges of attempted murder, gang allegations and weapons violations against Rodriguez, who is a documented gang member. He is being held on $2.2M bail.
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