Gabriel Vargas Jr. Identified as Shooting Victim in Montebello

The Coroner's Office today identified a 19-year-old
man who was gunned down in the  courtyard of an apartment complex in
Montebello.
   The shooting victim was identified as East Los Angeles resident Gabriel
Vargas Jr., said Coroner's Lt. Fred Corral.
   Vargas was with a group of acquaintances at about noon on Friday in the
600 block of Via Altamira, when a male suspect approached on foot and fired
several shots, according to Montebello police.
   Officers responding to a shots-fired call found Vargas suffering from
multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
   The suspect fled in an unknown direction, and a detailed description was
not immediately available.
   Investigators do not believe Vargas was a random target, according to a
Montebello police lieutenant. No motive was being ruled out, including the
possibility that the shooting was gang-related, he said.
   Anyone with information about the killing was urged to call Montebello
police investigators at (323) 887-1313.