Man on a push scooter charged in fatal San Gabriel shooting

A 22-year-old man has been charged with murder in the December 2015 shooting death of another man in San Gabriel, authorities said.

Giorgio Steve Rios is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 23 in Department 5 of Los Angeles County Superior Court in Alhambra, according to Sarah Ardalani, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. 

Steven Escobar, a 29-year-old Alhambra resident, was visiting with three friends in the front yard of a San Gabriel home about 7 p.m. Dec. 6 when Rios, wearing a dark-hooded sweatshirt rode up to the group on a push scooter, according to Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Joe Mendoza. 

Rios exchanged a few words with the men, then fired a single round into the group, striking Escobar in the chest, authorities say. He fled on foot, leaving his scooter behind. Escobar was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later.

Rios was arrested on suspicion of murder Jan. 29, based on information received from witnesses, Mendoza said. Investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the shooting, Mendoza said, and don't know if Escobar was the target of the attack.

Rios, a Latino, is being held in lieu of $2-million bail, according to online sheriff's department records.

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.

FOR THE RECORD, Feb. 8, 9:50 a.m.: A previous version of this post attributed Rios' ethnicity to Sarah Ardalani, a spokeswoman with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.