Violence Follows Chicanos' Rally; One Killed in E. Los Angeles Riot

One man was killed and several others wounded in a disturbance in East Los Angeles after a rally to protest police brutality and the Indochina war.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Peter Pitchess reported that the dead man, an unidentified Chicano, had been shot in the head and chest by shotgun blasts. Deputy sheriffs called out to quell the disturbance had fired shotguns. The number of wounded could not be determined immediately.

Reporters on the scene told of seeing one youth, bleeding heavily from the leg, being helped away by a friend. When asked what had happened, he shouted "shotgun blast." Pitchess reported that one of his deputies had been severely injured by flying rocks.

The disturbance began at the end of a rally sponsored by the Chicano Moratorium Committee attended by 5000 people. About 1000 demonstrators marched to a police substation at the end of the rally but were dispersed after a few minutes. An hour later, looting began along Whittier Boulevard, six blocks from the substation.

Police Called In

About 1000 sheriff's deputies in flak jackets and helmets were called out to put down the looting, and to protect firemen called in to stop blazes in the area, which destroyed two buildings. The violence came in the same area where Chicano newsman Ruben Salazar was killed by police bullets last August 29.