Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station detectives Friday confirmed the arrest of a male juvenile suspect as part of their investigation into an Oct. 30 shooting at a house party in Canyon Country.
Court records obtained by The Signal indicate that witnesses, victims and suspects reported a series of events that culminated in the shooting that’s believed to have resulted in one injury.
The initial evidence gathered indicates the injured party might have been hurt while trying to flee the location of the gunfire, and did not suffer a gunshot wound, although that’s also part of the active investigation, according to a source familiar with the investigation. No information regarding the nature of the injury was available at this time. The person was self-transported to the hospital, according to court documents.
“There was basically a physical altercation at the house,” said Detective James Van Horn of the Sheriff’s Station’s COBRA Unit, which stands for Career Offender, Burglary Robbery Assault and generally focuses on gang-related crime. “During that altercation, there was a shooting and the shooting was — basically rounds went into the roof of the house … the interior, the ceiling.”
Van Horn said he was not able to release any additional information, citing the status of the active investigation. Court records indicate detectives have interviewed a number of people, including teens and young adults, as part of their look into the get-together in the 27700 block of Tambora Lane.
Detectives also are investigating whether a verbal altercation involving one of the organizers and an allegation of criminal threats that happened in the days leading up to the party might be connected to the shooting, based on court documents.
At around 11 p.m. on the night of the party, according to witness statements, security for the party found the juvenile suspect, who was later identified by witnesses as the shooter, was allegedly in possession of a gun, and therefore the organizers working security did not allow him to enter the party.
Not long after he was denied entry, he was seen inside the house anyway as part of a physical altercation, waving a gun at one of the victims, according to witnesses’ accounts included in court records.
As the gun was being pointed at one of the people involved in organizing the event, the suspect’s hand was hit, according to those same witness accounts. The suspect responded by firing several shots into the ceiling and yelling, “Y’all wanna die tonight,” witnesses told investigators.Â
The shooting suspect, identified in court documents as a local high school student, fled the party shortly thereafter with at least four other individuals in an SUV with faded black paint, according to court documents.
The incident is one of four shootings that took place between Oct. 30 and Nov. 1 that are under investigation by the SCV Sheriff’s Station, according to previous reporting in The Signal. Van Horn noted Friday the incidents are being treated as separate investigations at this time.
Anyone with information regarding the shootings can contact the SCV Sheriff’s Station at 661-260-4000, or report information anonymously using the Sheriff’s Department Crime Stoppers tip line, 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or text the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by visiting lacrimestoppers.org.
