San Bernardino prosecutor vows justice in toddler shooting

A teenage member of a Los Angeles-based street gang was arrested Wednesday on charges of firing a handgun at a porch full of family members in San Bernardino, killing a 3-year-old girl and seriously wounding a pregnant woman and her young daughter.

Police say Monday’s shooting appears to have been a cold act of revenge against a man who lived in the house and – an hour earlier – stopped the suspect from beating a woman on a sidewalk a few doors away.

Investigators with the San Bernardino Police Department, aided by eyewitness accounts of the shooting, identified the suspect within 24 hours and the agency’s gang unit tracked him down Wednesday evening, two blocks from the crime scene.

“I make a commitment: He will never come out to harm another citizen in this county again,” San Bernardino County Dist. Atty. Michael Ramos said at an afternoon news conference at police headquarters.

“We’re going to make sure justice is done in this case,” he said. “We will not allow this to happen to our citizens, especially our babies.”

Brandon Taray Barnes, 19, of San Bernardino faces one charge of murder and seven counts of attempted murder for allegedly firing a dozen bullets at family members gathered outside the home.