3 Men Killed, Youth Hurt in Shootings Over Weekend : Violence: Attacks occurred in three cities. No arrests made yet. - Los Angeles Times
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3 Men Killed, Youth Hurt in Shootings Over Weekend : Violence: Attacks occurred in three cities. No arrests made yet.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Three men were killed and a youth wounded in separate incidents of weekend violence in Orange County.

In what sheriff’s officers believe was a gang-related shooting, a man in his mid-20s was killed and a 17-year-old La Puente boy was wounded early Sunday in Stanton near the intersection of Orangewood Avenue and the Southern Pacific railroad tracks.

An Anaheim motel resident died of multiple gunshot wounds Saturday after an argument concerning his girlfriend.

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And in Orange, a 27-year-old man died at UCI Medical Center, where he had been taken after being shot in the head Saturday afternoon while standing in the parking lot of a small shopping center at 918 N. Glassell St.

Sheriff’s investigators said they did not know the identity of the victim in the Stanton killing, which occurred Sunday about 4:40 a.m. Deputies were near Western Avenue and Seaboard Circle when they heard several gunshots coming from the area of the railroad tracks, according to a statement released by Lt. Richard J. Olson.

They surveyed the area and found two victims on the west side of the railroad tracks, about 100 feet south of Orangewood Avenue.

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The 17-year-old survivor of the Stanton shooting was taken to a nearby hospital with three gunshot wounds, “none of which appears to be life-threatening,†Olson said. The victims were accompanied by two young women who were not injured, investigators said.

“They apparently had come to the area from the San Gabriel Valley area and (the survivors of the attack) said that two unknown males . . . appeared out of nowhere and started shooting,†Olson said. “Preliminary information would indicate that the shooting is probably gang related.â€

In Anaheim, police Sunday were looking for a man who killed 28-year-old S.B. Rufus Jr. following an argument in the courtyard of the Anaheim International Inn at 2784 W. Lincoln Ave. Police said Rufus lived at the motel with his girlfriend.

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“The victim had become involved in a verbal altercation with another male who was evidently at the motel visiting friends in another room,†according to a statement released by Sgt. Chet Barry.

“As the argument escalated, the victim turned to leave the area, at which time the suspect produced a small caliber handgun and shot the victim several times,†Barry said.

Witnesses told investigators that the argument involved the suspect “having previously assaulted†Rufus’ girlfriend, according to the police report.

When police arrived at the motel about 4:20 p.m. Saturday, they found the victim lying in the grass with multiple wounds, Sgt. Joe Vargas said. Rufus died a short time later at Humana Hospital-West Anaheim.

The assailant, whom police have not identified, ran away.

Rufus is Anaheim’s 19th homicide victim this year, Vargas said.

Orange police on Sunday were investigating the Saturday afternoon shooting of Javier Barbosa Reyes, 27, of Orange.

In full view of several witnesses, Reyes was shot once in the head about 3 p.m., police said.

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The witnesses told investigators that three men, all believed to be in their 20s, drove into the Glassell Street shopping center parking lot in a cream-colored Volkswagen, Lt. Robert Gustafson said.

One of the men got out of the car, shot Reyes with a handgun, returned to the car, and the group drove off, Gustafson added.

Police said “there is nothing to indicate†that the shooting was gang-related, but they were still investigating.

Times staff writer Greg Hernandez contributed to this report.

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