Friends and family members gathered Tuesday to remember a 16-year-old boy who was shot and killed at an apartment complex the night before, marking the third shooting in two days in Duarte.
The San Gabriel Valley community has been hit with a recent rash of shootings, including one that left a new father dead.
The most recent shooting Monday night killed a teenager identified by family members as Christopher Rossi.
READ: Fatal Shooting of New Father Prompts Talk of Peace
He was killed in the parking garage of an apartment complex in the 2500 block of Huntington Drive, where he lived with his family. Detectives told NBC4 he may be affiliated with an area gang.
Family members told NBC4 Rossi was shot five times in the back as he ran from the gunman. His mother last saw him about 45 minutes before the slaying as she left to go Christmas shopping.
"He was a really great person," Rossi's friend Amanda Sanchez said. "He had a really good heart."
The victim's body was found behind the apartment complex, officials said.
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Detectives say that the three shootings happened within a few miles of each other and appear to be rival gangs targeted each other, though not all three victims are gang members, officials said.
Sheriff's officials said they plan to increase patrols in the area since the recent group of shootings.
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Early Sunday morning, an 18-year-old male was shot and killed in Duarte when he was walking home from work. On Sunday afternoon, a man was shot in his front yard in a drive-by shooting. His injury was said to be non-life-threatening, according to the sheriff's department.
