Junior Diaz and Alan Mateo, Venice High Seniors, Murdered at Penmar Park One Day Before Graduation

Who would have though i would cry bc of you or take you flowers. When u should of braught me flower! ( i know ur probably cracking up at me and jr anf u must be doing some funny stuff up there) Alan and i grew up together, went to school together, we played together we shared memories together, made fun of each other. joked around with one another. had the same family and always will. alan and Jr. ARE NOT gang related! Jr. was a very well loved child and he was funny and caring in his special way. No mother or father should ever have to burie his child first! Rest in peace cousin! and My buddie Sal. Will see ea soon I promise! - "SHE CUT "TAYLOR" RIP YOU GUYS! LOVE YOU!

rott in piss faggots hahahah they got u . they were gangmembers stop feeling sorry for them they knew what they were getting into

NOT gang memebers

I'm going to miss them both. They were so funny and cute! R.I.P Alan and Junior.

I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE THE SHIT THAT IS BEING WRITTEN HERE BY A BUNCH OF INSENSITIVE FUCKS!  Show some fucking RESPECT and COMPASSION for the family & their loss.  Who the FUCK asked for your shitty opinions or comments!  How about send LOVE to the family and not negativity, dumb asses.  This shit has me PISSED THE FUCK OFF.

geesus fucked up shit

Dear All:I, Elizabeth Mariscal, am the mother of the teenager being falsely accused of the Penmar Park shootings/murders o the afternoon of Wednesday, June 22, 2011.My son, Michael Mariscal, was present at home in Culver City at the time of the shootings/murders, as well as at the time of the news was released to the public.

My roommate and myself were also home with Michael at the time of the shootings/murders.

Despite this fact, the Pacific Division detectives dismissed this information and forcefully raided my home at approximately 9:30 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 without a search warrant.

Their reasoning for not having a search warrant was the fact that Michael is currently on probation.

On that note, I then informed the Pacific Division detectives that they could proceed to search through Michael's stuff, but that a search warrant would have to be presented to me prior to searching the rest of the property.

They demanded that we vacate the property so they could continue there search even without the search warrant.

They were adamant that MIchael was not present at home at the time of the shootings/murders even when I insisted that he was.

I recall reading about the shootings/murders on Facebook and turning to my son Michael, giving him a hug and telling him how grateful I was that he was home safe and sound. We also watched the news as the incident was reported. I also held a conversation with my roommate Mark regarding what I had read on Facebook and heard on the news.

I expressed to Detective Keyzer and Detective Corranza that it simply was not possible for Michael to have been at Penmar Park and make it home so quickly because of the distance between the park and our home in Culver City.

They continually insisted that we were wrong and that they knew for sure that Michael committed the shootings/murders.

Michael is not a gang member, but has been maliciously labelled as such because of his older brother; and has been treated as a gang member due to this fact.

The detectives proceeded with the search despite not having a search warrant present.

Once they received the search warrant and affidavit, they only allowed me to view the front page from a distance at approximately 2:30 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2011. By that time they had already confiscated my laptop computer, used personally and for business, my niece's cell phone as well as several other miscellaneous items.

It was not until 5:30 pm, upon their return to my home, that detectives Keyzer and Carranza presented me with a copy of the property receipt.

During this second visit, they spoke to my roommate Mark, and he told them the same information I did, but still they insisted it was Michael.They then asked to speak to me again and I told them Michael was home all week. He usually accompanies me to my therapy and allergist appointments. They told me Michael is being blamed for the shootings/murders at Penmar Park.

Bottom line is they are wrongfully accusing an innocent person. I have also been informed by a very reliable source that the Santa Monica gang has openly taken responsibility for the shootings/murders at Penmar Park on Wednesday, June 22, 2011. 

Please note it is a well-known by the surrounding communities that Santa Monica and Venice gangs are currently feuding with one another.

I would like to offer my deepest and sincerest condolences to the families of the two young men that unfortunately lost their lives in this heinous act of violence. 

Let's make sure that justice is served, not allowing an innocent person to be a victim of a wrongful accusation, but rather that the real shooter may be found and prosecuted accordingly.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Mariscal

My prayers go out to Sal Diaz and Alan Mateo,may you both rest in peace,Gone, to young and soon from this world . I can feel for there families. 

Once again stupidity has taken away lives that were trying to make something different of themselves.  This all needs to stop, lives need to once again have value and all the racist comments need to  disappear with their makers.  Lives were lost and parents are grieving, doesn't anyone have respect anymore? 

i live just blocks away from penmar park, and was walking to ralphs when i heard the gunshots.. what the fuck is the world coming to when people are being shot and killed at every fucking corner every other day?????   i don't know the boys who were shot RIP, but I send love and prayers to their family and friends. 

It's not "Mexican culture." It's Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles culture. Let's be honest. Doctors, lawyers, investment bankers and accountants from Mexico are rarely the ones who come here. L.A. is the recipient of the bottom rung of the socio-economic and educational rung from Latin America. Consequently, the illegals and anchor babies are disproportionately involved in street crime, having children out of wedlock, etc.

This is what comes from having 2 million plus of the undocumented here, and all of their offspring who love our WIC vouchers, free school lunches and Section 8 housing.

Junior I'll miss you.... It's crazy how you just seen someone and there gone :( you'll always be in my heart love rip I know I'll see your crazy ass one :-* ...it's never goodbye just I'll see you later !

FOR MANY OF US IT HAS STILL NOT HIT US TO WHERE THAT YOU GUYS ARE REALLY GONE! JUNIOR IT WAS MORE THEN A WEEK AGO I SAW YOU AT YOUR GRADUATION AND YOU WERE HAPPY TO BE GRADUATING AND EVEN IF I ASKED FOR YOU TO SMILE IN THE PICTURE I THINK IT WILL BE HARD FOR ME TO ASK MY SELF TO SMILE ONCE REALITY HITS ME! YOUR ALWAYS IN MY HEART AND YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN! RIPJUNIOR DIAZ&&ALAN MATEO

It's so sad that this type or any kind of crime needs to occur. How can we put a "STOP" to this hatred? We should be United not against each other. My heart goes out to the familes of these "young men". For those of you who think you are tough and want to fight go to Iraq and try to be brave there... so that our "REAL" men who are risking their lives for people they don't even know like you and me so we can have PEACE here at home. Instead we have you knuckleheads taking "innocent" people away from their loves ones.  Leave your fingerprints on studying not on crime!! Sally Martinez.

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Now is the City going to close the park?  This makes three violent homicides in one park vs. one self-created death at last year's EDC.  The latter was closed as aresult. No one is talking about closing the park.  Is LA run by hypocrites?  Or is violence an acceptablebehavior in LA?

It was certainly embraced by the LAPD when I lived there20-30 years ago.  It seemed to me that young minorities in South LA came together in street gangs more to protectthemselves from the uniformed, city-sponsored gang of Daryl Gates and his predecessors than for other purposes.  Inconsistency and arbitrary enforcement prevailed then.  They apparently continue today, except now the whole city government now appears to be engaged in the perpetuation of the same behavior that created today's problems.  Go figure.

come on,2 families r in  grief  right, this is not the time for racist shitty comments!! I have not heard anything about them being gang affiliated.Sounds lke these 2 were just chillin and some a'hole decided to take then out.I am praying for the families!!

It's sad how their lives were taken away at such a young age. Junior had just graduated last week, he was working and already planning ahead for college. Alan nor, Junior were from a gang. Sure they knew gang members, but they were never in one. They just liked kicking it, and livin it up. I spent everyday with them, so now I know things will never be the same. I don't even wanna go back to school, because everything there will remind me of all the good times we had. Junior, he was always a sweetheart even if he liked playing around too much. When I got kicked out of my house, He was there for me unlike all of my other "friends". And Alan , he was there for me to make my days and even to cheer me up when a close friend Danny Silva (Monster) Passed away. We spent alot of time at Venice Beach, since they both loved playing handball. I know They didn't have trouble with anyone, I never even saw this coming. It breaks my heart how someone can just decide to fire at them for no reason...Karma will get to that person though...& If it doesn't I'm sure someone will come for them...Rest In Paradise Junior & Alan. I love you both SO MUCH.

This is the saddest thing ever.

Jesus says that these filthy, evil, barbaric savage mexican beaners will taste the wrath of the terrible swift sword of justice after they clean my toilets, just like all mexicans do.

Its sad wat happen we go to thay park every thusday my son loves watch games but for some odd reason my son said i don't wanna go today!! I wish the best to those families and i hope they get that selfish and ungratefull life taker...

To the Diaz Family, Sal my preayers go out your family to be able to get through this devastating moments in your life. May your son aly in the hands of the heavenly father.

With all due respect to the family and friends of these two young men who are no longer with us, Emanon and Expunge you two are a pair of ignorant people and need to take your comments somewhere else. It's not explicitly stated but you should know better than to make these comments in a space that is for those who actually cared about Junior and Alan. I don't know what nationality you two are and I frankly do not care, but it saddens me that despite how much history this country has, there will always be ignorant people like you. How do you even know they were Mexican? Just because they were two young Latino boys in L.A. does not automatically mean they are. Yes, I am a proud daughter of Mexican immigrants, but I'm defending my people as I would anyone else who is insulted. Emanon, I think you're the one who should consider "assimilating" into a society where there is now so much diversity. Go back to your history books and figure out who owned the majority of the Western U.S. a few centuries ago; it was those "barbaric" people. This country doesn't belong to a specific racial group. I don't know if you're educated at all or not, but it frankly doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Expunge, you are one sad person. I thought the days of coming across racially intolerant and ignorant people like yourself were in the past, but clearly your "breed" is like a malicious weed that won't die off. You two are closer to being barbarians and "assimilating" with animals, as Expunge stated, than most Latinos will ever be. I pity for you, because no matter how much education you may or may not have and how important of a person you both may be, your cultural incompetence and stupidity will always make you the small fish in the ocean. Emanon, gangs are not part of the Mexican culture, every racial group has them. And yes, many neighborhoods have been affected by all sorts of violence, but you should access the circumstances, benefits, and opportunities that people have in those areas. Sorry to break it to you, but it's not a paradise for all of us in this country and we still don't complain and make stupid comments like you two. You may feel superior to "the Mexican breed," but as a soon-to-be Latina physician who was born and raised in these neighborhoods, I can personally tell you that we actually work for what we want rather than wait for our parents to hand down a future. Unfortunately, not all of us are able to make it because of ignorant people like yourself who are too selfish to accept that the throne doesn't only belong to you, "there is a correlation- just nobody wants to point it out."

My sincere condolences to the families and friends of Junior Diaz and Alan Mateo. And on behalf of Emanon and Expunge, I apologize for their ignorant comments because I am sure they will not get off their high horse to do it themselves. 

Alan I cant believe your gone.We  atteneded the same middle, and high school.You lived on my block.I saw you just last week at the Culver City car show.My heart goes out to both your family's, I wish them strength during this rough time.Congrats Grad.J.C.

They weren't gang bangers or anything they were down to earth boys who cared for all there friends and family. People need to understand that us 'mexiacans' don't necessarily have to be gang bangers just b/c we are Mexican stop stereo typing us! May they both rest in peace!

Alan was my student last year - I knew him as a fun-loving and kind person who was looking forward to graduating from high school.  I am sick of hearing all of the negative comments directed at Alan, Junior, and other Latino teens from Los Angeles.  Alan was a normal American teenaged boy who liked to joke around and flirt with girls.  Unfortunately to outsiders who judge people not by the "content of their character," but by the color of their skin, Alan will forever be branded as a worthless gangmember.  For the record, though Alan lived in a "gang" area, and knew gang members, he was not in a gang.  The media need to get their information straight.

RIP alan. good times in basketball u will be missed =[

Sal Jr., you were a good young man and it pains me to hear the news of another one of our youths taken by the violence in the streets. I will forever remember the days on the field and how you would smile and ask "Coach am I still the starting center on the team?" and like I said then "You will always be my starter" R.I.P Sal. I already miss you, love Coach Tony

This location is within yards of another shooting that happened in June, 1994.  That shooting involved several Catholic H.S. kids, but no one was killed.  It's a shame that these innocent kids have their lives scarred or taken away by these cowardly thugs that need to use guns as a way to be violent.  Why don't they use their fists like real men?  I knew one of the guys shot in 1994, that left him somewhat handicapped and unable to continue with his soccer career.  These two kids from yesterday didn't even have a chance to experiance life. 

Emanon sad but true. The shooters and the driver are the reasons to keep the death penalty. Maybe the family too should be in jail for bad breeding.

Sorry for the families loss - but, uhmm. mexicans need to assimilate. This barbarious and "gang" mentality is the stuff of a culture in decline. Its not "cool", its not "Hip", its dumb and shows a lack of common decency. Many neighborhoods are going down the drain, and there is a correlation - just nobody wants to point it out.