VENTURA : 2 Youths Arrested in Shooting of 3rd

Two 15-year-old Ventura boys were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in the shooting of another teen-ager after a dispute apparently triggered by a car accident, police said Thursday.

The boys, whose names were not released, were being held at Ventura County Juvenile Hall. The shooting victim, 16-year-old Emmet Kyle Walker of Ventura, was in critical condition Thursday at Ventura County Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Ventura Police Sgt. Bob Anderson said the shooting was not motivated by gang hostilities.

The shooting occurred about 8:40 p.m. Wednesday after Walker and four other boys drove to an apartment complex on Cambria Avenue to confront another teen-ager, police said.

The teen-ager’s parents told Walker and the others that their son would not come out, Anderson said. In the meantime, the teen-ager apparently called two friends, Anderson said. They then rode up to Walker and his group on bicycles, he said. A fight began between Walker and one of the cyclists.

The second bicyclist then pulled out a .22-caliber derringer and handed it to his friend, who shot Walker twice, police said. Walker was hit in his left arm and the left side of his stomach, the bullet lodging in his chest, they said. After the bicyclists fled, Walker ran to a house on a nearby street, where occupants called an ambulance, police said.

Officers on the scene followed leads to a home of one of the suspects in the 200 block of Baldwin Avenue, police said. The bicyclists were arrested there on suspicion of attempted murder, they said.