2 teenagers arrested in shooting of Santee student in South LA

Los Angeles police officers have arrested two teenage boys, both of them high school students, on suspicion of taking part in shooting a 17-year-old student in the leg just outside the Santee Education Complex in South Los Angeles earlier this month, authorities said.

The suspected shooter and a co-conspirator, aged between 16 and 17, were arrested around 10:40 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10, after gang-enforcement officers with the Los Angeles Police Department identified them through surveillance-camera footage and social media postings, LAPD and Los Angeles School Police said.

The suspected shooter was identified as a student at a nearby LAUSD high school in South Los Angeles, while the alleged co-conspirator is a Santee student, said Sgt. Rudy Perez, spokesman for LA School Police.

Detectives with LAPD’s Newton Division also searched a home tied to one of the teens, police said.

On the afternoon of Sept. 2, two fights broke out just off of campus, Perez said. The victim, a Santee student, was in one of those fights with another Santee student, at which point another individual walked up to the fight and fired, striking the 17-year-old in the upper leg.

The Santee student was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

A video of the fight posted to social media helped investigators identify both the student fighting with the victim and the boy who fired, Perez said.

Though authorities did not release a motive in the shooting, Perez said the incident may have been related to gangs within the South Los Angeles high schools.

“I think it’s more a gang tensions issue within the schools,” he said.

Both minors are being held at Eastlake Juvenile Hall as prosecutors review the case.

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