LOCAL : Boy Shot Dead Near Koreatown by 2 Suspected Gang Members

Suspected gang members firing from a car shot and killed a 14-year-old boy as he rode his bicycle along a city street near Koreatown, authorities said today.

The boy, whose name was not released, was riding his bicycle in the 2600 block of W. 12th Street about 4 p.m. Monday when a red Mazda pulled up behind him, Sgt. Ray Heslop said.

“The passenger in the vehicle produced a handgun and fired one round at the victim, striking him in the lower back,” Heslop said. The teen-ager died at California Medical Center about four hours later.

Officers found the Mazda abandoned a short distance away. The two suspects were believed to be 16- or 17-year-old gang members, Heslop said, and the motive gang related.