Salvador Noriega, 34

Salvador Noriega, a 34-year-old Latino, died Saturday, Oct. 8, after he was shot days earlier in the 1100 block of East 77th Street in the South Los Angeles neighborhood of Florence, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records. 

Noriega was riding his bike about 1:15 a.m. Oct. 6 when he was shot in the back and the leg, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Det. Eddie Aguirre. Noriega was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead at 6:51 p.m. two days later. 

Investigators believe the shooting, near 77th Street's intersection with South Central Avenue, was gang-related, Aguirre said, because Noriega was a member of a local gang.

The street where Noriega was shot is on the border of Sheriff’s Department and Los Angeles Police Department jurisdictions, Aguirre said. 

Two LAPD officers were patrolling the area at about 1:15 a.m. when they spotted a dark-colored sedan on South Central Avenue that made them suspicious.

The officers turned onto South Central Avenue and drove about two blocks, trying to find the car, when they heard gunfire and saw shots coming from the same vehicle, Aguirre said. 

The sedan drove away at a normal pace, Aguirre said, but began speeding when the driver realized police were following. The patrol officers pursued the car for 10 or 15 minutes, briefly lost sight of it, then found it empty with both front doors open in the middle of East 74th Street near Wadsworth Avenue, Aguirre said. 

The officers said they saw two men running down a driveway about four houses away, Aguirre said, and began chasing them. Two 22-year-old men were arrested on suspicion of murder, but the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office declined to file charges against them due to insufficient evidence, Aguirre said. 

Investigators are still gathering evidence in the case, Aguirre said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department 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.