KILLING FRIGHTENS NEIGHBORS; MAN, 28, FOUND SHOT IN SIMI BEDROOM.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Daily News Staff Writer A 28-year-old man became Simi Valley's first homicide victim of the year early Saturday after he was shot in the head while in his bedroom, police said. Juan Carlos Juan Car·los Born 1938. King of Spain (since 1975) who acceded to the throne on the death of Francisco Franco and helped restore parliamentary democracy. Noun 1. De La Cruz de la Cruz is a common surname in the Spanish language meaning 'of The Cross.'
Simi Valley Hospital is in the process of building a new wing to the hospital. at 3:37 a.m., police said. ``This is a murder, definitely,'' said Sgt. Karl Becker. ``There are no suspects at this time at all.'' An autopsy performed Saturday morning showed that De La Cruz died of a single gunshot wound to the head, police and a spokeswoman for the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office said. Family members were awoken a·wok·en v. A past participle of awake. awoken Verb a past participle of awake by the sound of the gunfire at 2:38 a.m., according to Becker. Police arrived soon afterward to discover De La Cruz in his bedroom, he said. The slaying sent a wave of fear through the quiet, middle-class neighborhood, where many residents have lived for decades. ``I'm terrified ter·ri·fy tr.v. ter·ri·fied, ter·ri·fy·ing, ter·ri·fies 1. To fill with terror; make deeply afraid. See Synonyms at frighten. 2. To menace or threaten; intimidate. ,'' said Joyce Bowman, who for 23 years has lived two houses away from the killing scene. ``I have four kids. They are teen-agers and young adults in their 20s and they all live here. You always hear about this happening someplace some·place adv. & n. Somewhere: "I didn't care where I was from so long as it was someplace else" Garrison Keillor. See Usage Note at everyplace. else.'' Her son Joe, 24, said he was sitting on his back patio when he heard the gunshot. ``My first thought was that it was a (muffler muffler, in automobiles, device designed to reduce the noise from the exhaust of an internal-combustion engine. When the exhaust gases from an internal-combustion engine are released directly into the atmosphere, they create a loud noise, caused by the passage of the ) backfire,'' he said. ``But it was kind of loud to be a backfire.'' When police arrived a short time later, Joe Bowman said he knew something had gone wrong. ``It just makes me so angry because it's so wrong,'' he said. Several nearby residents said the De La Cruz family moved into the Arcane Street home in the summer and was in the process of renovating it. The family was described as friendly but quiet, often keeping to themselves. Barry Jones, who has lived next door for 11 years, said De La Cruz was polite and a talented portrait sketch artist. Jones said De La Cruz acknowledged he once associated with the wrong crowd, but was most recently working in construction, attempting to turn his life around. ``He had some troubles in his past,'' Jones said. ``But he was trying to get out of his troubles. He was doing really good.'' With the investigation ongoing, police could not say whether the killing was gang-related. ``(Investigators) believe it's somebody the victim knew,'' said Sgt. Ron Lompart. |
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