Tuesday Shooting Update: Quiet Night in Altadena, Pasadena

Updated Tuesday 2/15: Detectives are still working on getting witnesses to the shooting to come forward and speak to them, according to Lt. Joe Dempsey of the Altadena Sheriff's Station.  Monday night was quiet in both Altadena and Pasadena, he said, with no reported incidents of gun fire.  Both Pasadena and Altadena had additional officers on the streets last night.

Detectives working on the case of a shooting of  18-year-old John Muir High School student in the 300 block of W. Palm Street Saturday night say they don't have very much information about who pulled the trigger.

According to Lt. Dave Dolson of the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau, the shooting happened after the victim left a party in the neighborhood.

Brandon Jackson was confirmed to be the 18-year-old victim by sources at John Muir.  He was a .

Prior to the shooting Saturday, Jackson walked out on to the street to a car parked across the street, Dolson said.

He approached the car and spoke with people inside.  Shortly after, they opened fire.  Jackson was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

So far, detectives has found out very little about who was in the car, and still don't know how many people were inside or what they look like, Dolson said.

"We don't have a lot of information about the occupants of the vehicle at all," Dolson said.

Detectives in Altadena and Pasadena are also looking into whether there is any connection between Saturday's shooting and a that took place in the 200 block of Pepper Street in Pasadena on Sunday night, according to Lt. Joe Dempsey of the Altadena Sheriff's Station.

A 44-year-old man was wounded in that shooting, according to Pasadena police officials.  Dempsey said Pasadena officials told him there were several other reports of gunfire in the city.

Because the shootings happened on back to back nights, detectives are naturally suspicious that they are gang related, Dempsey said.

"Its kind of how gang shootings go... there is a shooting, then a retaliation," Dempsey said.

He added that gang involvement has not been proven, and that nobody should assume anyone involved is a gang member until that happens.

"It is still being investigated, though it looks that way," Dempsey said. "That doesn't mean that the victim was a gang member."

Dolson said that detectives will look into the Pasadena connection, but for the time being, they just don't know enough to tell if the shooting is gang-related or not.

"There's a possibility that it could be, but we don't have information that leads us to put that stamp on it," Dolson said.

Anyone with information on the crime should call (323) 890-5500, or leave a tip at the website www.lacrimestoppers.org.