Van Nuys: Man Dead After Shooting On Metro Bus Amid Crime Spree
07.25.2019 | 12:30 PM | VAN NUYS – Another person was dead bringing a crime spree that left four people dead and two injured, Thursday afternoon.
Authorities responded to reports of a shooting aboard a Metro Orange Line bus near the intersection of Woodley Avenue and Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys around 12:30 PM.
Units arriving on scene found a victim, later identified as 55-year-old Detwon Lamond Harris of Reseda, deceased aboard the bus.
The murder of Harris was later linked the the murder of three others in the San Fernando Valley in hours prior.
A multifaceted investigation quickly led to the arrest of the suspected shooter, identified as 26-year-old Gerry Dean Zaragoza of Canoga Park.
Preliminary reports indicate Zaragoza opened fire on his father, brother, and mother at their family home early Thursday morning.
Police said 56-year-old Carlos I. Zaragoza, Zaragoza’s father, and 33-year-old Carlos Pierre Zaragoza, his brother, were fatally wounded while his mother was injured.
Zaragoza’s crime spree continued when he shot and killed 45-year-old Azucena Lepe, a woman he used to work with, at a North Hollywood gas station.
After killing Lepe, Zaragoza attempted to rob a man outside a bank in Canoga Park but failed before later shooting Harris.
Roughly 12 hours after the crime spree began, authorities topok Zaragoza into custody with the use of a Taser and booked him without bail pending an initial court appearance.
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