Teen arrested in fatal shooting of 15-year-old in Montclair

A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting a 15-year-old boy at Montclair Place shopping center last week, police say.

The shooting was reported around 8:10 p.m. on Feb. 2 in the Montclair Place parking lot, according to Montclair Police Sgt. Andy Graziano.

A 15-year-old was found with injuries and taken to a trauma center where he died, Graziano said. A 17-year-old boy was hospitalized in the same incident with stab wounds and was expected to survive.

A 17-year-old boy from Pomona was arrested on suspicion of murder two days after the shooting. He was a felon with a firearm and a gang extension, according to a press release from the Montclair Police Department.

The suspect was on probation in a previous firearms possession case, authorities said.

The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office is pursuing the case.

Family members identified the 15-year-old victim as Omar Espinoza, a student at Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona.

According to his godmother, Cynthia Jimenez, Espinoza was at the mall with a friend and his mother, buying a birthday present for his 9-year-old sister. Espinoza had been approached by a group of teenagers, which included the accused shooter, and they got into an altercation.

Espinoza and his friend were going to Target near the mall to meet the friend’s mother when they were attacked, Jimenez said. Espinoza’s friend was hospitalized with stab wounds.

“He was just such a sweet kid,” Jimenez said of Espinoza. “He liked playing football. For many years he was part of a dance group with his twin brother. His circle of friends was far and wide. He had a beautiful smile that could light up a room.”