Wednesday's attack occurred about a mile away from a fatal shooting on March 28 in which attackers yelled the name of a Bassett street gang.
Self-proclaimed gang members shot and wounded a man in front of his home as he took out the trash Wednesday afternoon, authorities and witnesses said. The drive-by shooting occurred about 1:50 p.m. in front of a house at Amar Road and Melham Avenue in an unincorporated county area near La Puente. The wounded 20-year-old man was shot twice in the leg, said his uncle, who asked that his name not be published for fear of retaliation. The nephew and two of his friends were doing some cleaning at the home prior to the attack, the uncle said. "They were taking out some trash... and there were like five shots," he said. The assailants yelled out the name of a Bassett street gang during the incident, he added. The two or more attackers fled southbound on Melham Avenue in a dark-colored compact car, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Rico Sandoval said. The wounds did not appear to be life-threatening, he added. A minivan parked in front of the home had two bullet holes in it. The home's wall also had one bullet hole. "The other two are in my nephew's leg," the uncle said. The uncle said his nephew was not involved with gangs and he did not know what motivated the shooting. "I don't know what happened," he said. "Why in broad daylight?" A teenage boy at the scene said he was standing next to the victim during the shooting but declined to comment further. The uncle said the shooting in the normally quiet neighborhood had him worried about the safety of his family. One of the bullets struck a wall only feet from his elderly mother's room. "I'll keep an eye out," he said. "That's all I can do." Wednesday's attack occurred about a mile away from a fatal shooting on March 28 in which attackers yelled the name of a Bassett street gang. Oscar Reyes, a 33-year-old father and local resident, was gunned down as he stood in front of an apartment building on Cadwell Street, just west of Aileron Avenue, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said. Family members said Reyes was not involved with gangs. Sandoval said gang violence often comes in surges. "Like any gang out there, sometimes their activity level rises and then drops," Sandoval said. "It often depends on which members are currently in jail."
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