A man was shot at least once late Monday night on the 6600 block of Darby Avenue in Reseda after two suspects approached him on foot and asked him where he was from, according to police. The victim suffered non-life-threatening wounds and was listed in stable condition by Tuesday morning, while the two suspects fled the scene in a vehicle and had not been apprehended as of that morning.
LAPD officers responded to the report of a shooting at 11:16 p.m. Monday, as reported by KTLA. Officers arriving on scene found a man who had been shot, and a spokesperson told the outlet his wounds were not life-threatening. Video captured on the Citizen app shows a man being loaded into an ambulance, along with footage of investigators combing the sidewalk along Darby Avenue for evidence.
According to the outlet's account, the two suspects walked up to the victim before one of them asked where he was from. People v. Medina discusses the phrase in the context of gang-related aggression, according to FindLaw. Moments later, one suspect produced a handgun and fired at the victim before both suspects fled into a nearby vehicle and drove away, per the same account. LAPD says the shooting is gang-related.
A Block With a Violent Recent History
The 6600 block of Darby Avenue is no stranger to emergency response. In April 2025, LAPD officers responded to a violent stabbing at an apartment complex on that same block that left five people injured, three of them in serious condition, according to the Los Angeles Police Protective League. Police arrested a suspect at the scene of that stabbing.
The surrounding corridor has also seen gang-related gunfire before. In March 2024, LAPD investigated a separate gang-related shooting near Vanowen Street and Darby Avenue, in which a 29-year-old man walking on the sidewalk was wounded by gunfire and transported to a hospital in stable condition, MyNewsLA reported at the time. The station overseeing this stretch of Reseda, LAPD's West Valley Community Police Station on Vanowen Street, patrols 33.5 square miles and serves roughly 196,800 residents across Reseda, Encino, Tarzana, Lake Balboa, and parts of Northridge and Sherman Oaks, per Greg Hill & Associates.
What Charges Suspects Could Face
If the two suspects are identified and captured, California law allows for significant sentencing enhancements tied to gang involvement. Under California Penal Code Section 186.22, committing a felony for the benefit of, or in association with, a criminal street gang carries additional terms of two, three, or four years, five years for a serious felony, and 10 years for a violent felony, with indeterminate life terms for specified offenses, according to Justia. That statute was enacted under California's Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act.
Gang Violence Against a Backdrop of Falling Homicides
The shooting comes even as citywide violence trends have been improving. Citywide homicides in Los Angeles dropped 19% in 2025 to 230 cases, the lowest annual total recorded by the LAPD since 1966, according to the City of Los Angeles. LAPD officers also seized 8,650 firearms citywide during 2025, more than 1,000 more than the prior year, which Chief Jim McDonnell credited with helping drive an 8% reduction in overall gunshot victims, per Police1's reporting.
Those citywide gains have coincided with a 68% homicide clearance rate last year, with LAPD solving 156 of the 230 homicides committed in 2025 while also closing 76 cold cases from prior years, the same outlet reported. Still, pockets of the West Valley have continued to see recurring violence — including a shooting near a Canoga Park car wash in August that hospitalized two people; one person was detained. Hoodline has also previously reported on a fatal shooting near Vanowen Street and Baird Avenue in Reseda in March.
The San Fernando Valley's street-gang landscape west of the 405 Freeway and LAPD's West Valley Division's relationship to the Mayor's Office Gang Reduction and Youth Development remain unclear. It remains unclear whether LAPD West Valley investigators have identified specific rival gangs connected to Monday's shooting. As of Tuesday morning, the two suspects remained at large. KTLA's Nancy Fontan contributed to the outlet's report.
