A teenager currently in a Los Angeles County jail on suspicion of killing a homeless man said he acted in self-defense, friends say.
Shortly after 8pm on Monday, 19-year-old Ivan Gallegos and two friends heard a car alarm going off nearby and after calling police, the two went to investigate the alarm themselves.
“Throughout his childhood, Ivan navigated the realities of both his parents’ involvement in gang activity and intermittent incarceration.”
They are 27 year old homeless man The gunman was in a friend’s car, who was not at the scene at the time, which was parked on private property along Fraternity Row at the University of Southern California.
The three young men confronted the supposed intruder. Other cars nearby When the men demanded he leave the area, the vagrant protested, saying he had a gun and that the car was his. Los Angeles Magazine report.
A scuffle then ensued and the homeless man allegedly reached into his waistband. GoFundMe An account was opened for Gallegos, which ostensibly prompted him to stab the man in self-defense. The man died at the scene from his injuries.
It is unclear why Gallegos had a knife. No gun was recovered at the scene.
“He feared for his life,” one of Gallegos’ friends told LA Magazine. “He had to defend himself.”
“When I heard what happened I knew right away he didn’t have any ill intentions,” another said. “Something had to happen for him to do that.”
Despite claiming self-defense, The police immediately arrested As previously reported by The Blaze News, Gallegos was arrested on suspicion of murder and booked into the county jail. He remains in custody on $2 million bail. As of Tuesday morning, the district attorney’s office had not filed any charges against him.
Gallegos is a member of Delta Tau Delta and just finished his sophomore year at USC, majoring in business. LinkedIn According to his profile, he claims to be the first person in his family to attend college.
According to the feature article USC Annenberg MediaGallegos grew up in difficult circumstances in Los Angeles. “Throughout his childhood, Ivan weathered the realities of his parents’ involvement in gang activity and intermittent incarceration,” the article said, adding that he was frequently exposed to “drugs, gangs and prostitution” during his childhood.
Other USC students say the area where the stabbing occurred is rife with violence and crime, mainly due to its large homeless population.
“You’ll see a lot of the street lights are out,” one student said. “What’s going on is they’re breaking these boxes and selling them to make money. They’re stealing the copper wire. It’s a big problem around here.”
Another student argued that while the USC campus is generally “pretty safe,” “we all know some of the surrounding areas are not so safe.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censorship and sign up for our newsletter to get stories like this directly to your inbox. Register here!
