POLICE LOOKING FOR TEENS' KILLERS.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

Homicide detectives were searching Monday for a gunman who killed two 17-year-old San Fernando Valley boys during a raucous rave party in downtown Los Angeles.

Gary Rivera of Pacoima and Jairo Gomez of North Hollywood were shot to death about 10:30 p.m. Saturday at the party, attended by about 400 people, in an abandoned garment district building in the 800 block of South Spring Street.

The shots were fired as police attempted to break up an unruly group that had gathered outside the building, police said. Chaos ensued as scores of people began spilling out of windows to escape.

``There were several fights going on that were unrelated,'' said Lt. Andy Monsue of the Los Angeles Police Department's Central Division. ``These things can attract gang members, taggers, car clubs. Often times they are armed. Some of these things can get pretty wild.''

The victims were transported to County-USC Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead around midnight, police said.

Police detained dozens of witnesses but were unable to develop solid information on the shooter. It was unclear whether the killings were gang-related.

Detectives on Monday were examining the list of attendees, Monsue said, and were hopeful that video surveillance tapes from nearby businesses would produce useful evidence.

Monsue said that he was not surprised that so many young people attended the rave, which was advertised on the Internet by cell phone messaging and fliers. People paid up to $30 admission.

``This particular party crowd tended to be particularly young,'' Monsue said. ``My reaction is very simple: Kids that age should not be out late at night.''

This is not the first time that such violence has occurred at a rave party.

Serafin Herrera, 19, of Palmdale was shot to death in 1996, during a fight outside an outdoor rave a half-mile south of Lake Elizabeth Road near the California Aqueduct. In 1992, 21-year-old Luis Miguel Cespedes of Sunland was killed and two others suffered injuries at a rave party in Pacoima. The shooters were believed to be gang members who crashed the party.

Anyone with information is asked to call Central Division homicide detectives at [phone].

Jason Kandel, [phone]

jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com