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Sylmar, CA (KCAL/KCBS) — Gunfire brought a Dodgers World Series win celebration to a tragic end in Sylmar Tuesday.
The families of 22-year-old Juan Carlos Guillen and 30-year-old Marco Antonio Vazquez said they were fatally shot while trying to stop people who were smashing car windows with baseball bats.
“And to see that he was just trying to do the right thing got him in trouble,” Lorena Guillen Garcia, Guillen’s sister, said. “I didn’t expect anything less from him.”
Guillen Garcia said she expected excellence from her little brother, because she knew that was exactly what he was capable of achieving.
“I pushed him to make sure he stayed in school, ’cause the rest of us didn’t,” she said.
“The school was very proud of him, because he just kept on,” Tony Alvarado, Guillen’s mentor, said. “He didn’t give up.”
Alvarado said he encouraged Guillen to go back and finish his high school education. And, just last weekend, Guillen had announced at his birthday celebration that he had just enrolled in college.
“He had dreams, and there was actions behind it,” Alvarado said.
“He was my hero,” Vasquez’s niece said.
She said her uncle was her best friend and acted as a father figure — guiding her through life. He leaves behind six young children.
“An amazing father that was trying to do the best for his kids,” she said.
The Los Angeles Police Department said it had no leads on potential suspects, saying that they did not know what they looked like or if they fled the scene on foot or in a car.
But with roughly 40 people in the crowd that night near Polk Street and Glen Oaks Boulevard and videos circulating on social media, investigators are hoping that the public can help bring those responsible to justice.
“It’s sad that if you want to help someone, you got to have in mind that you’re putting your life on the line,” Alvarado said.
The families of the victims have set up GoFundMe pages to help cover costs of the sudden deaths. To help the Guillen family, click here. To help the Vasquez family, click here.
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