A Homicide Bureau official with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department confirmed Thursday their attempted-murder case for a July 4 Canyon Country shooting is connected to the investigation into a shooting hours later in which a deputy killed a suspect after a foot pursuit in Newhall.Â
Sheriff’s Lt. Art Spencer wouldn’t confirm whether the three men identified by law enforcement so far as part of the investigation were in the car together in Newhall that night, but the shootings left two men in custody, a third deceased and a fourth recovering at the hospital.
Angel Aguero, 19, and Jaime Gutierrez, 33, were scheduled to be in court Thursday but their case was continued until Aug. 24 in San Fernando, according to L.A. County Superior Court records.
Spencer confirmed previously that Aguero and Gutierrez each are facing one count of attempted murder in connection with a shooting that happened around 10:17 p.m. July 4 in the 27300 block of Fahren Court, just north of Jakes Way.
“That victim is in stable condition and is recovering from his injuries sustained in the gunshot wound,” Spencer said Thursday, adding the victim was a 19-year-old Hispanic man but the department was not releasing his identity at this time.
About an hour after the shooting, Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies patrolling in Newhall found a car that matched the description of the silver sedan in which the suspects were reported as leaving the scene of the shooting about an hour earlier.
“When deputies made contact with the occupants of that vehicle, the front passenger of the vehicle fled the vehicle on foot,” Spencer said in a previous interview, adding the suspect, later identified as 24-year-old Greg Covey, of Newhall, momentarily evaded the deputies and was then spotted, leading to a second pursuit that ended in the shooting.
Spencer said whether Aguero, Covey and Gutierrez were in the car being pursued and whether shots were fired from the suspects at deputies are two facets that are still under investigation.
Deputies reported that a gun was recovered at the scene, declining to identify the weapon at this time or whether it was connected to the prior shooting.
Spencer did confirm the shooting was not being investigated by the state’s Department of Justice, which automatically looks into any shooting by a law enforcement officer involving an unarmed person.
“The case is being actively investigated,” Spencer said in response to several questions about the shooting and whether there could be additional charges recommended to the prosecution in connection to either incident.
Aguero and Gutierrez are both being held without bail at Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.
The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
