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By Lookout Staff

June 30 -- A 28-year-old Latino man was gunned down in the Pico neighborhood Saturday night, marking the fourth homicide in Santa Monica this year and the 39th in the violence-prone neighborhood since 1989.

Byron Lopez, 28, was shot shortly before 10 p.m. in the area of the 2000 block of Court 19, a gang-riddled pocket of the Pico Neighborhood.

Police responding to a call of shots fired were unable to locate any victims or witnesses, said Sgt. Renaldi Thurston, the Police Department spokesman.

While police were canvassing the area, they were notified by a local hospital that a gunshot victim had just been admitted, Thurston said.

“After being shot, friends of the victim drove him to the hospital,” Thurston said. “While at the hospital, the victim succumbed to his injures.”

Lopez, listed as a resident of Gardena, lived part-time with his grandmother in the Pico neighborhood, according to sources.

The two suspects are black, police said.

“Is it gang related? Is it drug related? Is it race related? We don’t know,” said School Board President Oscar de la Torre, executive director of the Pico Youth and Family Center, which provides services for at risk youth.

“It’s too premature to tell,” de la Torre said. “It could be all of these things.”

De la Torre believes the fatal shooting could be the result of an ongoing feud between a black and a Latino gang in Santa Monica that dates back two decades.

The feud claimed the life of Jalonnie Carter, 19, who was gunned down in an alley on the 1800 block of 20th street in September 2003, de la Torre said. (“Hundreds Attend Funeral of 19-year-old Shooting Victim,” September 12, 2003)

“From what I have heard so far, this is an internal conflict that has lead to at least one other homicide and multiple shootings,” de la Torre said.

(For background on violence iin the Pico Neighborhood see “Shots Fired in Pico Neighborhood,” October 26, 2007 and “Council Tackles Pico Violence,” December 16, 2004 and “Frustrated Parents Boo Police and School Officials at Community Meeting,” October 6, 2004)

De la Torre said he does not believe Lopez was an active member of a gang. “My sources tell me he’s not involved in gangs,” he said.

The ongoing feud is part of a persistent gang problem in the Pico neighborhood that contributed to 12 homicides in Santa Monica in 1998.

The shooting comes six weeks after a man was assaulted on May 11 less than two blocks from Saturday’s killing, although police do not believe that assault was gang-related. Preston Brumfield died of his injuries, making him Santa Monica’s third homicide victim this year. ("Assault Victim Becomes Year’s 3rd Homicide," May 22, 2008)

Brumfield’s killing came two months after two victims were found dead in their Santa Monica apartments three days apart. Police determined the homicides were not related.

The first took place on March 16, when police found the body of Juliana Redding, a 21-year-old aspiring model, in her Santa Monica apartment on the 1500 block of Centinela Avenue. She was the victim of an assault. (“21-year-old Woman Found Dead After Apparent Assault,” March 18)

On March 19, police found Alexander Merman, a 35-year-old artist, dead in his condominium on the 500 block of Montana Avenue, the victim of blunt force trauma. (“Man Found Dead in Montana Avenue Apartment,” March 20)

In both cases, parents identified the police after failing to contact their children.

Anyone with additional information on the homicides should call Santa Monica Police Department Detectives at 310.458.8451 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or the Watch Commander at 310.458.8427 at any time.

Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may call the WeTip hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463).