Reputed Gang Members Crash Party; 2 Teens Killed, 2 Hurt

WESTMINSTER — Two 14-year-old high school freshmen were shot dead and two other teenagers were critically wounded Saturday night after reputed Vietnamese gang members crashed an end-of-school party, police said Sunday.

The two assailants, reportedly members of a Garden Grove-based youth gang, had heard of the party in the 13300 block of Nevada Street and pushed their way in shortly after 8 p.m., Sgt. Thomas Finley said.

After they were asked to leave, an argument broke out and one of the men pulled a semiautomatic pistol and began shooting, causing panicked teenagers to run screaming from the house, according to Finley.

Police discovered the two dead teenagers in the backyard and two others, ages 15 and 16, in serious condition with gunshot wounds. They remained in critical condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange on Sunday.

Because it was a suspected gang-related shooting, police did not immediately release the names of the victims. However, authorities said none of the victims is believed to be a gang member.

The suspects were identified as Van Ngoc Nguyen, 18, and Phong Quoc Nguyen, 19, both of Garden Grove, Finley said, adding that both were being sought for questioning. Their photographs were released at a news conference Sunday.

“The gang members found out through word-of-mouth there was a party going on and went over to the house,” Finley said. “Supposedly it was just some kids having some other kids over to celebrate the end of the school year. The gang members arrived, went in uninvited, and there was some type of argument.

“Then one of the gang members pulled out a gun and shot these kids. The rest is kind of sketchy right now. The investigation is at such an early stage,” Finley added.

Neighbors told officers they heard six shots fired and saw the students scrambling to get out of the house.

The incident is being handled by Westminster’s target gang unit and homicide investigators.

After the news conference, Finley said, “I don’t know if it’s the worst incident, but it ranks up there.”

The incident is the latest shooting to claim a Westminster youth. On May 9, a 16-year-old was fatally shot while playing basketball.

Two days before that, a Westminster High School student walking home from a grocery store with his mother was shot and killed when he stumbled into a gunfight.

Although overall gang-related crime has declined in Orange County in recent years, violent acts--home invasion robberies, car shootings and other acts of terror--have increased slightly.

“We think if you are in a war and win a little skirmish, it’s no time to declare victory and sit down,” Westminster Police Chief James Cook said recently. His department has aggressively targeted gang violence.

In the otherwise peaceful neighborhood Sunday, neighbors said they saw dozens of kids at the party and one large group arrive shortly before the shooting. Several expressed concern about the shooting and asked that they not be identified.

At the one-story stucco home where the shooting occurred, a young man answered the door and said, “I don’t want to talk.”