By Lookout Staff

July 29, 2024 -- A Los Angeles man who shot a victim in the face in Palisades Park last year was sentenced to nine years in State prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder this month.

The shooting took place on the evening of January 18, 2023 on the 1500 block of Palisades Park where officers responded to a call reporting shots fired, police officials said Monday.

The officers discovered a victim who had been shot in the face and later transported to a local hospital.

"During the investigation, detectives uncovered evidence that on that date and time the victim was in an argument with three subjects," said Lt. Erika Aklufi, the Police Department spokesperson.

One of the subjects, later identified as Los Angeles resident Angel Diaz, 21, "produced a handgun and shot the victim once in the face," Aklufi said.

The incident is believed to be gang-related, according to police.

Evidence detectives discovered at the crime scene tied Diaz to the shooting via DNA, and he was also captured on CCTV footage fleeing the area on foot.

During the investigation, SMPD detectives discovered Diaz was arrested less than a month later, on February 10, by LAPD for attempted murder with a handgun, Aklufi said.

"Ballistic evidence proved that the handgun used in the SMPD case was also used in the LAPD case," she said.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed attempted murder charges against Diaz for both incidents and incidents on July 9, Diaz pleaded guilty to assault with a semi-automatic firearm.

He was sentenced to nine years in state prison, with the sentence to run concurrent with his sentence for the LAPD case, police said.