VAN NUYS : 2 Get Prison Terms in Freeway Shooting

Two Burbank gang members were sentenced to state prison Tuesday for their attempted murder convictions stemming from a freeway shooting that ended with one woman critically injured and the gunmen’s car rolling over on the Ventura Freeway in North Hollywood.

Believing that they were being challenged by a rival gang, Edward Shores, 18, and Man Nguyen, 21, opened fire on two women traveling in a car near Vineland Avenue on Oct. 12, 1992, according to police reports.

One shot, apparently fired by Shores, hit 24-year-old Bobbie Viloria of Canoga Park in the head, immediately rendering her unconscious. Even though her passenger grabbed the steering wheel, the vehicle swerved and hit the gunmen’s car, causing it to flip over.

Police arrested Shores and Nguyen at the scene, where two handguns were recovered.

Viloria spent more than four months in the hospital and requires ongoing medical care, according to court records.

With both defendants appearing at ease and at times laughing, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Sandy Kriegler sent Shores to prison for nine years. Nguyen received a six-year sentence.

Kriegler also ordered each man to pay Viloria’s family $231,945 in restitution.

“This crime can only be described as senseless,� wrote Deputy Probation Officer Alan E. Schaffer, who asked for lengthy prison sentences to send a message to the community.

Shore and Nguyen pleaded no contest last month to one count of attempted murder. As part of a plea bargain, prosecutors agreed to drop a special allegation that the crime was premeditated, a charge that carries a life sentence.

Both men have previous criminal records, and Shores had been released from a juvenile detention camp only six weeks before the freeway shooting.