Segway Used In Drive-by Gang Shooting

RELATED NEWS Would you like to own a Segway? They are now available for low monthly rates.

LOS ANGELES, California (HLN) – A 16-year-old was killed during a drive-by shooting late Thursday in the 2800 block of Compton Blvd when shots were fired from a passing Segway Human Transporter.

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office reported that Barry Wilson was dead at the scene, and two others were being treated at an area hospital.

Police say an 18-year-old man has been arrested in the shooting after trying to flee the scene on the Segway, a self-balancing, personal transportation device developed by respected inventor Dean Kamen.

The man, whom police did not identify, told detectives he is a member of a west-side Mexican gang and confessed to the homicide Friday morning, said Capt. James Baca, head of the LAPD’s homicide unit.

Police routinely withhold the names of suspects until they are charged by the district attorney.

“Obviously we are looking into whether or not the Segway played a significant role in the shooting,” Baca said. Law officers on the scene immediately impounded the Segway.

The suspect, who was riding the Segway at around 15 miles per hour down Compton Blvd, fired several shots at Wilson, police said. Thirty 7.62mm cartridge casings, most likely fired from an assault-style rifle, were recovered from the scene, according to a medical examiner’s report.

Capt. David P. Garfinkle, head of the LAPD’s gang unit, says that while this is the first Segway-related homicide in Los Angeles, gangs have been using the human transporters for months now.

“Right now it looks like it’s more of a vanity project than a drive by vehicle,” says Garfinkle. “Body shops all across the valley are fitting these things with chrome wheels and other parts you’d see on souped up car.”

Jesse James, the Chief Executive Officer of West Coast Choppers, a company that specializes in custom made motorcycles, says he’s gotten numerous requests for custom Segway parts.

“We’ve been getting more and more gang members coming in here, wanting to trick out their Segways,” says James. “It’s such a beautiful machine, I just hope it doesn’t go the way of the Escalade or H2, which have become such huge gangland status symbols.”