LOS ANGELES -- A Homeboy Industries employee going out in Boyle Heights, Calif., Tuesday on a gang graffiti removal call was fatally shot -- much as another worker for that organization was gunned down June 24.
But police said the killings probably were unrelated.
They said the victim -- one report identified him as Arturo Casas, 25, but the coroner's office did not immediately confirm the name -- may have been targeted due to previous gang activity.
Tuesday's attack occurred at First and Cummings streets about 12:40 p.m., while the victim was driving a white pickup truck with a Homeboy Industries logo on the door. The vehicle went a short distance after the shooting, then crashed into a business. No one else was hurt.
The fatal bullet reportedly struck the driver in the head and in one arm.
According to a report, Homeboy Industries -- which does work under contract to the city -- had just received a gang graffiti removal call and Casas was responding.
Homeboy Industries slogan is "Jobs Not Jails" and one of its forerunners was "Nothing Stops a Bullet Like a Job."
LAPD Detective Rick Peterson spoke with reporters about the slaying.
He said two men in a black Honda pulled up next to the Homebody Industries truck Casas was driving.
"The passenger of the vehicle exited and then fired a number of rounds into the cab of the truck that the victim was in, where he sustained multiple gunshot wounds," Peterson said.
"Individuals that are actually employed by the Homeboy Industries are gang members that are trying to turn their lives around. And this may have been an incident from a prior incident that occurred who knows how long ago."
According to an aide to City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, who represents the area, the victim was painting over graffiti in preparation for the 21st annual "National Night Out," which organizers call a crime/drug prevention campaign at the grassroots level.
No one from Homeboy Industries wanted to discuss the tragedy.
On June 24, Miguel Rafael Gomez, 35, was killed about 5:30 a.m. in the 400 block of South Breed Street. Gomez was removing graffiti for Homeboy Industries.
Two possible gang members were sought in connection with the crime, police said.
At the time, Mayor Jim Hahn called it "a real tragedy. Young men should not be at risk for their lives while they are participating in an anti-gang program.
"We have worked very hard over the last three years to successfully reduce this kind of terrible crime, but we know that there is so much more work to be done. I am not going to be satisfied until we end this kind of senseless violence," he said.
Villaraigosa, who announced his candidacy for mayor Tuesday, also represents the area where Gomez died.
At the time of that shooting, the councilman said, "Homeboy Industries is an organization that contracts with the city of Los Angeles to clean graffiti, to improve neighborhoods.
"Many of these young people want a second chance," Villaraigosa said. "They're trying to turn their life around. This young man was cleaning graffiti off the wall ... and, unfortunately, someone walked up to him and shot him at close range.
"It's a real tragedy, because we know that these young men are trying to turn their life around (and) do the right thing."
But police said the killings probably were unrelated.
They said the victim -- one report identified him as Arturo Casas, 25, but the coroner's office did not immediately confirm the name -- may have been targeted due to previous gang activity.
Tuesday's attack occurred at First and Cummings streets about 12:40 p.m., while the victim was driving a white pickup truck with a Homeboy Industries logo on the door. The vehicle went a short distance after the shooting, then crashed into a business. No one else was hurt.
The fatal bullet reportedly struck the driver in the head and in one arm.
According to a report, Homeboy Industries -- which does work under contract to the city -- had just received a gang graffiti removal call and Casas was responding.
Homeboy Industries slogan is "Jobs Not Jails" and one of its forerunners was "Nothing Stops a Bullet Like a Job."
LAPD Detective Rick Peterson spoke with reporters about the slaying.
He said two men in a black Honda pulled up next to the Homebody Industries truck Casas was driving.
"The passenger of the vehicle exited and then fired a number of rounds into the cab of the truck that the victim was in, where he sustained multiple gunshot wounds," Peterson said.
"Individuals that are actually employed by the Homeboy Industries are gang members that are trying to turn their lives around. And this may have been an incident from a prior incident that occurred who knows how long ago."
According to an aide to City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, who represents the area, the victim was painting over graffiti in preparation for the 21st annual "National Night Out," which organizers call a crime/drug prevention campaign at the grassroots level.
No one from Homeboy Industries wanted to discuss the tragedy.
On June 24, Miguel Rafael Gomez, 35, was killed about 5:30 a.m. in the 400 block of South Breed Street. Gomez was removing graffiti for Homeboy Industries.
Two possible gang members were sought in connection with the crime, police said.
At the time, Mayor Jim Hahn called it "a real tragedy. Young men should not be at risk for their lives while they are participating in an anti-gang program.
"We have worked very hard over the last three years to successfully reduce this kind of terrible crime, but we know that there is so much more work to be done. I am not going to be satisfied until we end this kind of senseless violence," he said.
Villaraigosa, who announced his candidacy for mayor Tuesday, also represents the area where Gomez died.
At the time of that shooting, the councilman said, "Homeboy Industries is an organization that contracts with the city of Los Angeles to clean graffiti, to improve neighborhoods.
"Many of these young people want a second chance," Villaraigosa said. "They're trying to turn their life around. This young man was cleaning graffiti off the wall ... and, unfortunately, someone walked up to him and shot him at close range.
"It's a real tragedy, because we know that these young men are trying to turn their life around (and) do the right thing."
