[Online exclusive] Man wounded Saturday in shooting in front of fraternity house

Police are investigating a shooting that occurred early Saturday
morning, leaving one person wounded and marking the second shooting
incident in as many weeks for the UCLA area.

Shots were fired in front of the Sigma Nu fraternity house on
Gayley Avenue at about 2:26 a.m., according to university police
and eyewitnesses.

The shooting victim was described as a male non-student who
suffered a wound to his ankle.

The victim was transported to a local hospital and is in good
condition, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, which is
investigating the shooting.

The shooting happened at the tail end of a party held in the
fraternity house, but not hosted by Sigma Nu.

Shortly after, shots were fired in Lot 8 ““ located about
two blocks east of the fraternity house on Strathmore Avenue. No
one was hurt, according to university police, which is
investigating that particular incident.

Police would not comment on whether the two incidents were
related, but according to eyewitness testimony, this appears to be
the case.

According to eyewitnesses, police began clearing out partygoers
in front of the fraternity house shortly after the Gayley Avenue
incident.

Jonathan Forney, a third-year political science and philosophy
student and social chairman of the nearby Beta Theta Pi fraternity,
said he saw the events unfold from his vantage point on one of his
house’s balconies ““ which on Gayley Avenue has a clear
line of vision of both Sigma Nu and Lot 8.

Forney said as police began to disperse people from the party,
people on the west side of Gayley Avenue started running south
toward Westwood Village, and that others on the east side of the
street ran toward Lot 8.

He added that he heard a gunshot come from the general area of
the parking garage, followed by cars speeding out of it.

Sigma Nu did not sponsor the party where the shooting occurred.
House manager Sarman Bravo-Karimi said the building was rented out
to party-management group 3 Tha Hard Way, which is run by UCLA
students.

Bravo-Karimi, who attended the party, added that it attracted
people from throughout Los Angeles, saying 3 Tha Hard Way conducted
intense advertising for the event.

A phone message left on Saturday for 3 Tha Hard Way was not
returned.

The group’s Web site billed the event at the Sigma Nu
house as “The UCLA Blue and Gold Bash.”

Derrick Klunchoo, a third-year economics students and Sigma Nu
member, said most of the fraternity members were out for the night
and not present at the party going on in their house.

Fraternity officials agreed the party was unmanageable for most
of its duration, due in part to the amount of people present both
inside and outside, which according to rough estimates totaled as
many as 800 partygoers.

“It was out of control, from the get-go. There were too
many people there,” said Mark Hardin, director of risk
management for the Interfraternity Council, who stopped by the
party in its early stages.

“(There were) probably a lot of people there who
couldn’t get into the party and thought they should, and
they’re drinking, so that’s just asking for stuff to go
down,” he said.

Bravo-Karimi said the party inside the house was alcohol and
drug-free, and that security was instructed not to admit anyone who
was under the influence.

“Pretty much everyone seemed sober,” he said.

But the crowd outside the house ““ which Bravo-Karimi
estimated to be as high as 200 people ““ was less
regulated.

Hardin said the large amount of people spilling into the street
was a large part of why Black Sunday ““ a tradition in which
fraternities throw raucous kick-off parties before the alcohol-free
fall rush period ““ has been cancelled for the past two
years.

Another factor, highlighted by Saturday’s incident, was
the attraction of out-of-towners, he said.

The aftermath of the scene ““ in which police closed off
much of the west side of Gayley Avenue in front of the house
““ prevented many members of Sigma Nu from returning home.
Many, including Klunchoo, had to find other accommodations for the
night.

Other students were left stranded for a ride home later in the
morning, since Lot 8 was closed off as university police
investigated the shooting incident at this location. At 10:15 a.m.,
four students of the Fashion Institute for Design and Merchandising
could be seen sitting on the curb in front of Lot 8, denied access
to their car that was parked in the garage.

“We’ve been waiting since 8 a.m.,” said Brooke
Barney, a first-year student at the FIDM who attended a nearby
party in Westwood the previous night with her three roommates.
“The cops said it would take two hours,” she added.

But as of late Saturday morning, they were out of luck.

They began calling for a taxi to their home in Burbank, and
called to arrange people to fill in for them at their jobs.

The incident was the second shooting incident at or near UCLA in
the past two weeks.

On Oct. 5, a university police officer shot an alleged
trespasser in Kerckhoff Hall, who police said attacked the officer.
In that case, the alleged assailant, Willie Davis Frazier, pled not
guilty Wednesday to charges of assault and removing an
officer’s weapon. He now awaits a preliminary hearing while
LAPD continues to investigate the incident.