6:00am | Six residents of Long Beach were arrested on Thursday in connection with the fatal shooting of 20-year old Robert Tripple in September, 2009.
Jesus Gonzales, 21, and Efren Flores, 19, were arrested for the murder of Tripple and the attempted murder of several other victims that were present during the shooting in the 200 block of West 20th Street.
Several family members of the two suspects were also arrested with charges of aiding and abetting a criminal as they assisted Gonzales and Flores in hiding from police.
Police have also determined that the murder of Tripple last September matched ballistic evidence from another shooting in August of last year. In that incident, gunshots were fired into a group near 1500 West 20th, injuring one victim.
In early June of this year, police released sketches of the suspects in an attempt to locate them in connection with both the murder of Tripple and the non-fatal shooting last September. Those sketches gave detectives the leads they needed to find Gonzales and Flores, authorities say.
Detectives from the Gang and Violent Crimes Division, SWAT and Directed Enforcement Teams served search warrants at ten locations throughout Long Beach.
The names of the arrested suspects, all Long Beach residents, are listed below.
Jesus Gonzales 21 Murder/Attempt Murder
Efren Flores 19 Murder/Attempt Murder
Maria Hernandez 18 Aiding/Abetting
Jesus Gonzalez 47 Aiding/Abetting
Adan Gonzales 28 Aiding/Abetting
Angie Cortes 29 Aiding/Abetting
Anyone with additional information is urged to contact Homicide detectives Todd Johnson or Malcolm Evans at 562.570.7244.