A third man has been arrested in connection with the shooting deaths of two teens at a house party in El Cajon in late October, police said.
Police said 19-year-old Orsbuin Young, a San Diego resident, was arrested on Friday by El Cajon and San Diego police, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force.
Young was arrested at a residence in San Diego. Police later searched the home where he was found, as well as his own home, officials said.
El Cajon police earlier arrested two men on suspicion of murder in connection with the deaths. Police said Young, Bruce Luu, 21, and Dan Nalab, 24, were being held without bail in jail on first-degree murder charges.
Prosecutors indicated in court documents that the murders were gang-related and that all three fired shots. Prosecutors also filed special circumstances allegations, saying the crimes were committed for the benefit of a street gang and involved more than one alleged murder.
The special allegations mean the case carries a potential death penalty for the defendants, if they are convicted. District Attorney Summer Stephan usually waits until after a preliminary hearing has been held in a case before deciding whether to pursue the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Nalab has been in jail since Nov. 18, when Chula Vista police arrested him on an unrelated firearm charge.
Luu was arrested Nov. 20 by El Cajon police with the help of the fugitive task force and the East County Regional Gang Task Force.
The shootings occurred shortly before midnight Oct. 28 at a home on Mahogany Drive off East Washington Avenue. Police responding to 911 calls found several people fleeing the scene of a large party at a short-term rental property.
Officers found one victim in the front yard and the other in the street. Both were critically wounded. Each was taken to a trauma hospital, where they died.
El Cajon police said the victims were a 16-year-old boy and an 18-year-old man. The department sealed the Medical Examiner’s Office files on the case and refuses to release the names of the victims, citing the wishes of the families.
After the shooting, the suspect or suspects fled in a nearby vehicle.
Police said they used their automated license plate readers to identify the getaway vehicle, a system the department started using during the summer.
