2 Teenagers Arrested in Student’s Shooting

GLENDALE â€”  Police arrested two teenage boys and were seeking a third Friday in the shooting a day earlier of a 15-year-old student outside Hoover High School.

It was the first shooting ever outside a Glendale campus, officials said.

Authorities booked two Hoover students, ages 15 and 18, on suspicion of attempted murder in the shooting of Avetis “Avo� Demerchyan. A search was underway for the boy suspected of being the triggerman, said Glendale Police Sgt. Rick Young.

Demerchyan, a junior, who was hit once in the abdomen, was in critical condition Friday at County-USC Medical Center.

Police and school officials were trying to sort out events that led to the shooting after school Thursday in the 1300 block of School Street, adjacent to the Hoover campus.

Glendale police first thought the shooting was linked to an Armenian gang rivalry, but on Friday they said it arose from a lunchtime insult.

“The victim made comments about the suspect’s family and the city where they came from in Armenia,� said Glendale police spokesman Chahe Keuroghelian. “It’s an isolated incident, which ended up in tragedy.�

Following the argument at lunch, a larger group of young people gathered after school outside campus, and several fights broke out, eventually spilling into the street.

Some students tried to break up the melee when a single shot rang out, police said. Friends of the victim put him in a car and flagged down a Glendale motorcycle officer.

At a news conference, school officials said that despite the shooting, their school is safe. Administrators emphasized the point in a note sent home to parents.

“We want to assure you that this was an isolated incident,� said the letter from Co-Principals Kevin Welsh and Pamela J. Luisada. “We also want you to know that the administration and teachers at Hoover are not going to tolerate on this campus any behaviors, including violence, harassment and lack of respect between students and staff.�

School officials said the victim had previously been suspended for fighting. But they said the offense was not serious enough to warrant expulsion for the year. “He’s not a problem student,� said Glendale schools Assistant Supt. Alice Petrossian.

No additional information was released about the students arrested in the shooting.

Police said two of the suspects were Hoover students and that the teen they believe pulled the trigger attended Allan Daily Continuation school in Glendale.

“Tragically, this could have happened anywhere,� said Glendale Supt. James R. Brown.

District spokesman Vic Pallos said: “This is the first incidence of a shooting that has ever occurred adjacent to one of our schools. We aim to make it the last.�