Two Arrested in Halloween Shooting Death

The boy, 5, was showing off his Spider-Man Halloween costume when he was shot

Two people suspected of fatally shooting a 5-year-old as he showed off his Halloween costume in the backyard of his South Los Angeles home have been arrested, a law enforcement official said Friday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the arrests were to be announced at an afternoon news conference. The official would not provide further details.

Aaron Shannon Jr. was flexing the muscles of his Spider-Man costume and posing for photographs in the backyard with his uncle, grandfather and cousin Sunday afternoon when two men in an alley opened fire on the group, police and relatives have said.

The boy, who was getting ready to go to a party, was shot in the back of the head and died at a hospital the next day.

The boy's uncle, Terrence Shannon, 27, was hit in the wrist, and his grandfather William Shannon, 56, was hit in the left leg. Neither of their injuries was considered serious.

The home is located in disputed gang territory and the attackers mistakenly believed that members of a rival gang lived there, police have said.

The city had offered a $75,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.


 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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