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A man and woman who were arrested following a fatal shooting spree around Whittier and La Mirada were charged with murder and carjacking on Thursday.
The alleged gang members, Alejandro Lazo, 21, and Reyna Gomez, 26, were charged with one count of murder, 14 counts of attempted murder, and carjacking. The charges also include gang and gun allegations. Gomez is being charged with one count of torture.
Lazo and Gomez allegedly passed a handgun between them while taking turns shooting at "innocent victims" according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
"In a matter of three hours, these known gang members were involved in five shootings, four in which individuals were struck by gunfire and a carjacking. These are senseless acts of violence -- acts committed on innocent people that were merely enjoying the day, running errands in what they believed was a safe area," Sheriff's Department Capt. Christopher Bergner said at a news conference Thursday.
The pair were arrested on Saturday night after they were found wounded outside a Santa Fe Springs motel, but it was unclear who shot the couple.
Lazo, who is on parole, was released from prison in November after being convicted of extortion and assault. Gomez was also released from prison in November after she was convicted of auto theft and receiving stolen property officials said.
The shooting spree began shortly after 1 pm on Saturday after a pedestrian was shot in the leg in Whittier by a pair of male and female suspects in a white Kia Rio. The pair then allegedly carjacked a green Nissan Pathfinder at gunpoint in Pico Rivera.
The pair began driving around, shooting at random 'innocent victims', including another pedestrian who was reportedly shot in the groin around 3:35 pm in Whittier. Authorities then received reports of shots fired at two motorists a few minutes later, but no one was injured.
Lazo and Gomez proceeded southeast in their stolen Pathfinder toward La Mirada where a third person was shot in an arm the sheriff's department said.
Reports of the shootings continued to come in, as authorities responded to another shooting at Santa Gertrudes Avenue in La Mirada which claimed the life of 44-year-old Jose Sahagun, a Norwalk resident authorities said.
A social worker who also worked as a teacher, Sahagan was shot multiple times as he waited at a stoplight. He leaves behind a wife, and two sons, one is 4, and the other is 7 according to family members.
Sheriff's officials tracked down the stolen Pathfinder around 6:30pm that day in the parking lot of Amelia Mayberry Park in South Whittier.
A 911 call around 8:30 that night about 2 people suffering gunshot wounds with a description of the pair that matched the suspects involved in the earlier shootings, but authorities did not immediately link the couple to the crime spree.
The pair faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted as charged.