By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

December 4 -- A Pico Neighborhood alley turned into a crime scene Saturday night, after a teenager allegedly shot at a car driven by a woman. The shooting comes as parents in nearby Sunset Park get set to huddle with police and City officials Wednesday to talk about crime.

Police responded to shots fired around 9:45 p.m. Saturday night in an alley behind 17th Street and Delaware Avenue, a violence prone block near Woodlawn Cemetery and Santa Monica College.

According to the victim, as well as witnesses, an 18-year-old Hispanic male wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, approached the vehicle and started shooting.

"It appears that the victim was driving her vehicle in the alley when she noticed the suspect's vehicle stopped ahead of her," according to police.

"The suspect exited a vehicle and began shooting towards the victim's vehicle,” police said. “The suspect then ran back to his vehicle and fled the location."

Police said the shooter fled in a 2000 model black or green Honda.

While police did not speculate if the shooting was gang-related, authorities have said a drive-by shooting one month ago was likely carried out by gang members.

That shooting has left a 25-year-old man who was seeking treatment with CLARE – a substance and alcohol abuse recovery center in Santa Monica – in critical condition.

His medical condition remains unknown, but there are unconfirmed reports he may have lost both of his kidneys in the shooting.

Meanwhile parents and residents in Sunset Park will be meeting with police and Council members Herb Katz and Richard Bloom Wednesday evening to discuss safety in the neighborhood.

In flyers raising awareness, PTA organizers said the relatively quiet neighborhood still deals with big-city violence and crime.

"Drive-by shootings, break-ins, vandalism and rape; few things worry us more than neighborhood crime," reads the statement in the Grant Elementary School Weekly Bulletin.

"What are local leaders and law enforcement doing to keep our streets and schools safe? What can we do -- as a community -- to prevent crime and violence in Sunset Park?"

Wednesday’s town hall meeting, which will be moderated by Nat Trives, a former mayor and police officer, will begin at 7 p.m. Tiffany Lim, a policing expert from the Cal-State Pat Brown Institute, and Captain Alex Padilla, the Santa Monica Police Department spokesman, will take questions and share their views.

Anyone having information regarding the December 2 shooting should contact the Robbery/Homicide unit of the Santa Monica Police Department at 310.458.8451 or the Watch Commander's Office at 310.458.8427.