Paramount High Student Wounded; Is Third Shot in Five Months

A 16-year-old Paramount High School student was wounded Thursday afternoon in what authorities said was a gang-related drive-by shooting.

Herminio Munoz is the third Paramount High student to be shot in the last five months. He was standing in the parking lot of a mini-mall on Rosecrans Avenue, less than mile from the school campus at about 3:25 p.m., when five or six men in a black pickup truck shouted gang slogans and shot him, said sheriff’s Deputy Rich Erickson.

Munoz, who suffered a gunshot wound to his side, was in stable condition at Charter Suburban Hospital, said Dr. Geron Sheppard.

Sheppard said Munoz did not sustain injuries to his internal organs and described the teen-ager as “very lucky. He is very apprehensive about the whole event. But he is generally in good spirits.”

The boy’s father, Sergio Munoz, said his son is not a gang member. Sitting in the emergency room’s waiting area with a worn Bible on his lap, he appealed to those who shot his son.

“I want to tell them to think about their fathers,” he said. “If they have something in their hearts, they must stop.”

Paramount High student Sheila Lorta was killed by gang cross-fire as she was returning to the school for cheerleading practice in September. Earlier this year, honor student Alfred Clark was killed in a fast-food restaurant across the street from the high school the day before he was to graduate.

Paramount school district Supt. Michelle Lawrence said the district cannot be responsible for what happens off campus. “Our high school is a safe place to be,” she said. “Obviously, we have crime on our streets. The school district can’t control all the activity.”