Shaun Gustavo Gomez was 20 years old when he died on Thursday, September 7, 2000, in Wilmington, in the Harbor area of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma in front of 809 E. 246th St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Harbor Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 20-year-old Latino male" who "died Thursday, Sept. 7, after sustaining blunt force trauma in Wilmington." The location was given as the front of a house on East 246th Street, which suggests he may have been hurt outdoors, on or near the street, but the record does not say so. It did not describe what happened or whether detectives had identified anyone responsible.
His name, with his age of 20, appears in a long list of homicide victims' names published online by the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children, a support group for families who have lost someone to violence. The saved text includes nothing more about him than his name and age. No obituary, family fundraiser or news story about his death could be found. Searches turned up several other men named Shaun Gomez, including college baseball players and relatives listed in obituaries in other states, none of whom can be tied to him.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was beaten in a fight, attacked by a stranger, assaulted indoors or on the street, or struck by a vehicle, all of which can lead to a finding of blunt force trauma. It does not say what time of day he was hurt, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Wilmington is a community at the southern end of the city of Los Angeles, connected to the rest of the city by the narrow strip of land known as the Harbor Gateway. It sits beside the Port of Los Angeles, and for generations its economy has been tied to the docks, shipping, trucking and the oil refineries that line its edges. Its neighborhoods of modest homes and apartments are home to many working families, and the community has long been one of the most heavily Latino parts of the city. Wilmington is patrolled by the LAPD's Harbor Division, based in nearby San Pedro.
Homicides in Los Angeles rose sharply in the early 2000s, climbing past 600 in 2002, and detectives carried heavy caseloads. Many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Shaun Gustavo Gomez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 25 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near East 246th Street in Wilmington in September 2000, or who knew a 20-year-old man named Shaun Gomez from the Harbor area, may hold information that could help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
