Man killed in Hawthorne car-to-car shooting ID'd as son of Victorville deputy

GARDENA >> The man shot and killed in Hawthoe while retuing from a church service in Torrance has been identified as the son of a San Beardino County Sheriff’s deputy, according to friends and family.

William Fifita, 20, of Adelanto, was struck in the upper body and pronounced dead at the scene, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s and coroner’s reports.

Two other people in Fifita’s vehicle were wounded in Sunday’s car-to-car shooting, officials said.

An active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Fifita had recently retued from a religious mission in Guatemala, according to a GoFundMe page set up by friends to help pay for Fifita’s funeral expenses.

He graduated in 2013 from Silverado High School, where he played for the school’s football team.

Fifita and three others were retuing from a church function in Torrance when the shooting took place about 2:14 a.m. Sunday at Rosecrans Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard, according to the sheriff’s department.

Witnesses said the targeted vehicle was traveling east on Rosecrans Avenue, according to sheriff’s Deputy Juanita Navarro-Suarez.

The vehicle entered the left tu lane at Crenshaw Boulevard and was stopped at a red light when a dark-colored sedan pulled alongside and at least one occupant opened fire, the deputy said.

The vehicle then came to rest in a parking lot at the northeast coer of the intersection as the suspect car took off, heading east on Rosecrans and out of view, she said.

Two male passengers also suffered upper body gunshot wounds and were taken to a hospital, according to Navarro-Suarez, who said a woman in the vehicle was not injured. The wounded victims’ conditions were not available, she said.

A description of the suspects was not available, and it’s unclear if the shooting was gang-related, Navarro-Suarez said.

Some observers said the shooting might have been racially motivated, according to a videographer at the scene. The shots were fired from a white Kia Rio, the videographer said.

The shooting occurred in Hawthoe, but the vehicle came to rest in Gardena, a deputy said. Sheriff’s homicide detectives were assisting Hawthoe police in the investigation.

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