'He Was Not a Gang Member,' Father of Teen Slain at Penmar Says

Sal Diaz brought many in the crowd to tears at a community meeting Wednesday night at Penmar Recreation Center, just yards from where a week before.

"He was not a gang member. He was not," Diaz said.

Grief-stricken, Diaz remembered his son, and also expressed his thanks to the people in the community who worked with the police to help identify a possible shooter.

"It's very difficult to lose a family member… your oldest boy, at 18, who had just graduated," Diaz said. "Whoever did this, may they catch them so they never do this to someone else." 

Officers on Tuesday , 19-year-old Culver City resident Michael Mariscal, the LAPD announced Wednesday. Pacific Division Capt. Jon Peters told Patch that Mariscal is a "documented gang member," but said police had not identified a connection between the victims and the suspect.

"This neighborhood is claimed by a local gang, historically, going way back, and that particular gang has rivals," Peters said. "We had some rivals in the area that perceived that these young men [the victims] were gang members."

Officials and community members are working now to prevent any retaliation between gangs. "The opportunity for retaliation is certainly something we take very seriously," Peters told concerned residents.

Mariscal is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday afternoon. He is being held on $2 million bail on murder charges in the deaths of Diaz and Alan Mateo, also 18.

Diaz had graduated from the Venice Skills Center earlier this month. Mateo was set to graduate from the day after the shooting.

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