3 dead, 2 wounded as police search for 26-year-old San Fernando Valley shooting suspect

A manhunt is underway for an “armed and dangerous” man who police believe shot and killed his father and brother in an apartment in Canoga Park and injured his mother there, then fatally shot a female acquaintance at a gas station in North Hollywood.

Gerry Dean Zaragoza, 26, was identified by the Los Angeles Police Department as the killer of his 50-year-old father and his 20-year-old brother the and woman.

The first shooting occurred about 2 a.m. in the 21000 block of Roscoe Boulevard.

Paramedics pronounced the two men dead at the scene and took Zaragoza’s mother to a hospital in stable condition, the LAPD said. She was shot in the arm, according to reports from the scene.

The second shooting occurred about 2:45 a.m. at a gas station on the 6700 block of Vineland Avenue, where a man and a woman were wounded, according to the LAPD. The woman died at a hospital, while the man was in critical condition, police said.

The names of the dead were withheld pending family notifications.

LAPD spokesman Josh Rubenstein said police believe Zaragoza and the two victims at the gas station were “acquaintances.”

A person was detained for questioning in connection with the gas station shooting but later released and is not a suspect in the case, Rubenstein said.

Anyone with information on Zaragoza’s whereabouts was urged to call 911.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.