By: Josh Cain

BALDWIN PARK, CA- An argument after a Baldwin Park house party led to a shooting early Sunday that left one person in critical condition and three others with minor injuries.

Neighbors said they heard the gathering at a home on the northwest side of the cul-de-sac on Loma Lane late on Saturday, and saw 15 to 20 teenagers hanging out in the driveway, with more headed there from the direction of Francisquito Avenue.

By just after midnight, the party was still going, with loud music blaring and a group of people still in the driveway. That’s when shots rang out, according to both neighbors and Baldwin Park police.

Police received the call about the shooting at 12:30 a.m. When they arrived, officials said the officers learned four people had been shot, with some taken to a local hospital. Three of the victims had wounds that were not life threatening, while one other was injured critically.

In a written statement, Sgt. Darryl Kosaka said investigators did not believe the shooting was gang related. He said the gunfire followed a “confrontation of two groups of party goers.”

Police activity rarely comes to the quiet neighborhood filled with families just north of the intersection of Francisquito Avenue and Frasier Street. David Gaither, who has lived with his wife on southeast side of Loma Lane for 37 years, said loud parties are also uncommon, though residents often let each other know when they’re hosting a large gathering.

Gaither said a teenager living at the home where the shooting occurred came to his door last week to let him know that he’d be hosting a “flyer” party soon. When he and his wife returned home on Saturday night at around 11:15 p.m., he said they saw the teenagers gathered at the home with music playing.

The couple went to bed and didn’t hear any of the commotion on their street. But when they woke up the next morning, they turned on the local news and heard about the shooting on Loma Lane. When they peeked outside, they saw their street crowded with police vehicles.

Usually, “it’s just a quiet little neighborhood,” Gaither said.

Another neighbor, who asked only to be named as M. Morales, said she woke up to the sound of loud explosions outside her home early on Sunday.

“I got real nervous,” Morales said. But she went back to sleep, hoping what she’d heard were the fireworks that kids set off on nearby streets frequently.

But after seeing a text from her nephew in law enforcement about the shooting on her street, she went outside and saw six or seven small, yellow evidence markers on the street.

She also saw blood on the driveway of the home across from hers, with a few bottles and cans of beer also strewn in the street.

Morales said the last time something like this happened in the neighborhood was at least 10 years, when another shooting killed one person on a nearby street.

“We’re a very low-key neighborhood,” Morales said. “Nothing very crazy ever happens here.”

The investigation continued into Sunday afternoon. No arrests were immediately announced.

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