3 Hurt in Lincoln Heights Drive-By Shooting : Crime: Occupants of one car fire into another six blocks away from the site where a teen-ager was slain by an LAPD officer 10 days earlier.

Three El Sereno men were wounded Tuesday in a Lincoln Heights shooting just six blocks from the corner where a 14-year-old boy was slain by an LAPD officer 10 days earlier.

One car pulled alongside another as they traveled eastward on North Broadway, and police say the riders exchanged harsh words before the occupants of one vehicle fired shots into the other.

The wounded driver lost control of the cream-colored Cadillac and it veered over the palm-lined curb, where it struck a wall and crashed into a dirt embankment. The driver and two passengers were taken to County-USC Medical Center.

Victor Lopez, 21, and Albert Rodriguez, 18, were listed in critical condition late Tuesday, with wounds in the back and chest, respectively. A third man, Eduardo Ramirez, 18, was listed in stable condition after suffering multiple chest wounds, according to police.

Authorities say they did not know who fired the shots from the red compact car, but they suspect that the incident was a retaliatory attack by gang members.

“The victims that were shot were heavily, heavily involved in gang activities in El Sereno, we suspect,” said Detective Ben Lovato.

The shooting took place several hours before friends and family were to gather Tuesday night for the wake of Jose Antonio Gutierrez, whose fatal shooting July 29 is being investigated by law enforcement agencies. Police say Gutierrez was pointing a semiautomatic pistol at officers when he was shot; his parents contend that he was unarmed and they have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit.

Police said they did not believe that Tuesday’s incident had any connection to the gang that had claimed Gutierrez’s allegiance.

The shooting Tuesday continues the gang violence that has increased in Lincoln Heights, a community of about 27,000. Police say yearly gang-related killings have jumped from two or three in the mid-1980s to nine in 1994. Some frightened residents in the Eastlake Avenue neighborhood where Gutierrez was shot have asked for more police to ensure safety.

After Tuesday’s shooting, police said they found bullet casings near North Broadway and Lincoln Park Avenue. People nearby said they heard about six shots.

The shooting occurred on the eastern edge of Lincoln Heights, not far from the bordering community of El Sereno, where police said the wounded men live.

Lovato said he had seen similar shootings in the area.