Name of Monte Vista Street Shooting Victim Released

Pedro Morales died in an area hospital on Saturday evening after being fatally wounded by a shotgun blast near the 5300 block of Monte Vista Street.

As previously reported on Patch, Morales and his brother were both shot at around 6:20 p.m. in front of an apartment building on Saturday. The Coroner's office did not release the name of Morales' brother, who was shot in the shoulder and remains in stable condition at an area hospital.

LAPD has not released the age of the brothers yet.

Previously:

A man died and another was wounded in a shooting in Highland Park on Saturday evening.

The shooting at Avenue 53 and Monte Vista Street occurred at about 6:20 p.m. Saturday, a desk officer at the Northeast Station said. The shooter fled on foot.

According to witnesses at the scene, both victims appeared to be in their teens.

The victim who survived was shot in the arm.

One witness who saw the scene prior to the shooting reported seeing the victims being chased on foot around an apartment building in the area.

As of 11 p.m. helicopters and squad cars were still in the area of the shooting looking for the suspects.

Violent crime had been rampant on Monte Vista street throughout the spring, before a pair of arrests in May temporarily put a halt to the shootings.

At the time, LAPD Gang Unit Detective Rick Ortiz said the surge of violent crime seemed to have been stemmed following the arrest of two known gang members--19-year-old Edwin Celis and 23-year-old Edwin Ramirez--in connection with the shooting of a 13-year-old male on Drew Street in Glassell Park.

According to Crimemapping.com, 10 incidents of assault with a deadly weapon were reported between North Figueroa Street and Monte Vista Street between March 15 and April 26--the day of the arrest. There was a also a report of gun shots being fired into an apartment unit on April 2.

According to the Eastsider L.A., area residents had noticed a string of fresh "53" taggings near crime scene, a tagging that was not prominent in the area until recently.

-City News Service contributed to this report.