Two Youths Arrested in Revenge Raid on Home

Two teen-agers have been arrested on suspicion of shooting at the home of a Willowbrook family who were the apparent victims of a series of revenge attacks launched after they protested drug dealing in front of their home, authorities said.

Lonnie Bobby Shelmon, 18, and a 17-year-old male whose name was not released were booked Tuesday night at the Lynwood Sheriff’s Station on charges of shooting at an inhabited dwelling. Shelmon was being held in lieu of $15,000 bail, and the younger male was turned over to juvenile authorities, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Herbst.

The shooting occurred Sunday night at the home of Ramon Fuentes, after the 47-year-old construction worker confronted a group of neighborhood youths he suspected of conducting a drug deal in front of his house.

Several young men returned later with a shotgun and fired several shots at the home, sheriff’s investigators said. One of the youths, Ricky Gary, 19, was wounded in the gunfire and remains in stable condition at Martin Luther King, Jr./Drew Medical Center.

Investigators have not determined whether Gary was wounded from gunfire directed at the home or whether shots were fired from within the house, Herbst said.

Investigators said the confrontation led to a series of attacks against Fuentes and the family of his daughter, Veronica Hernandez, 19, who lives next door.

Both homes were virtually destroyed early Tuesday in a firebombing attack, a day after they had been burglarized. Two cars belonging to the families were also firebombed Sunday night. At least 16 family members who had been living in the homes fled early Monday and are staying with relatives, authorities said.

No arrests have been made in the other incidents.