Bryan Anthony Mares, 23

Bryan Anthony Mares,  a 23-year-old Latino, was fatally shot on Saturday, March 9, in the 11800 block of Arkansas Street in Artesia, according to Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner records. 

Four people, allegedly documented gang members from Norwalk, were arrested later that evening in connection with Mares' death and another non-fatal shooting earlier that evening just a few blocks away, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Derrick Alfred.

Mares, a homeless man who had been staying in the Artesia area, was walking on Arkansas Street near Pioneer Boulevard about 9:44 p.m. when a dark-colored sedan drove by and someone inside began shooting, Alfred said. 

The gunfire struck Mares, who ran up a driveway and tried to hide behind a parked vehicle before he fell, Alfred said. Someone spotted Mares lying by the car and called 911.

Mares was able to describe the shooter's car, Alfred said. He was pronounced dead at the hospital at 11:15 p.m., according to coroner's records. The cause of death was listed as a gunshot wound to the torso. 

Investigators learned that about 20 minutes before Mares was shot, a vehicle matching the same description, with four men inside, shot at a man standing near 168th Street and Clarksdale Avenue in Artesia, about three blocks from where Mares was attacked. 

In that incident, the man, a Latino adult, was struck in the arm, and returned fire at the car, Alfred said, The man, identified as a gang member,  drove himself to the hospital and was "uncooperative" with investigators, he said. He is expected to survive. 

The detectives believe the gunman's car circled back around, perhaps looking for the first victim, and spotted Mares walking a few blocks away, Alfred said. They believe the people in the car were members of a rival gang to the first victim.

Mares "had no gang affiliations," Alfred said. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

According to coroner's records, Mares last resided in Colton, but investigators said he left that community around 2015 and had been homeless in Artesia for some time. 

Shortly after Mares was shot, patrolling deputies reportedly spotted a dark-blue Chevrolet Impala sedan parked on Cheshire Street in Norwalk. The car and men standing around it matched the descriptions of the shooter's car and the four people inside, Alfred said.  

A semiautomatic pistol was also recovered at the scene, Alfred said, and is being tested to see if its bullets match those involved in the shootings. 

The four were arrested that evening, and on Monday, March 12, each were charged with one count of murder, one count of attempted murder and two counts of shooting from a vehicle. 

The four defendants are all Latinos who live in Norwalk, Alfred said. They have been identified as Anthony Martinez Garibo, 19; Adrian Angel Nunez, 18; Danny Orozco, 19; and Isaac Adam Miranda, 18. 

They are scheduled to be arraigned on March 18 in Department J of the Los Angeles County Superior Court Norwalk Courthouse 

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477. 

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.