Shooting shocks Redondo Beach
Devin Joseph Scandore (Dean). Photo submitted
On Saturday, Jan. 20, South Redondo local Devin Scandore (Devin Dean) got in his red Volkswagen bug and drove himself and a few friends to a punk show.
He never came home. The next morning, detectives returned Scandore’s car to his house, bearing tragic news that rippled through Redondo Beach last week, leaving a trail of grief.
Scandore, 22, was shot with what a witness described as a .25 gold-plated handgun during a parking-lot brawl at Alpine Village in unincorporated Torrance. He was shot at about midnight and died later of his injuries in the hospital. Another man was stabbed during the same fight and is reportedly recovering.
Details are sketchy and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has released limited information, but witnesses say the brawl involved dozens of people and developed from an aggressive mosh pit inside the venue.
A source said Scandore saw a friend’s cousin getting “thrown by [concert] security” during the fight – another witness echoed the detail, using the phrase “choked out by security” – and stepped in to defend him.
A witness said Scandore was “handling three guys” on his own when a young male, who has been described as Latino with short hair, pulled out a gun.
Scandore’s friends said he did not know the shooter.
“At one point Devin was trying to reach out and yelled, ‘Where are all my South Bay friends?’” friend Lauren Archuleta said. “He wasn’t about to back down, though. If anything he was going to fight ‘til the end no matter what, if he had any back-up or if he was going to do it alone. He would never back down from something he saw that he knew wasn’t right.”
Scandore’s friends remember him as a “protector” who died defending himself and his friends.
Friend Sophia El-Khadem said Scandore’s priorities were his younger brother Joseph, his older brother Nicholas, his mom Jeri and his best friends, whom he “always introduced as his cousins.”
“All he really cared about was his family and friends – he would do anything for his family and his friends were his family,” friend Erik Wilson said.
Scandore’s friends said he was fiercely proud of his South Redondo roots and loved to watch the sunset at Breakwall. He loved surfing, skateboarding, camping, barbecues, walking his dogs, Classic Burger, and cruising The Strand.
“He loved South Redondo more than anybody – this is going to change the South Bay. He was such a presence,” El-Khadem said. “This was his stomping grounds. It’s just such a shocker for so many people. He impacted the lives of so many people around here.”
Scandore’s Facebook page has been covered with heartfelt, despairing, and encouraging messages from those who knew and loved him. Friends have written about his laugh, his “larger than life” personality, and his smile “that could light up a room.”
The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department is continuing to investigate the shooting.
If anyone has information about the shooting or a potential suspect, contact the L.A. County Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. To make an anonymous report, call (800) 222-TIPS, visit lacrimestoppers.org, or text the letters TIPLA and your tip to CRIMES (274637).
Scandore’s mother has asked people to make donations toward legal fees involved in tracking down the person who shot her son. To contribute, visit this website. ER