Two adults and three teenagers identified by police as gang members have been arrested on suspicion of murder in the August 16 stabbing of 16-year-old Ricardo Valdovinos who was fatally injured near his Oceanside home.
They were taken into custody by Oceanside police on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, police Capt. Ray Bechler said.
Authorities suspect the attack was gang-related. About 10 p.m. Wednesday, officers responded to a report of a stabbing at Center Avenue and Division Street, on the backside of Oceanside High. They found the wounded teenager less than a block away, in the courtyard of an apartment complex on South Weitzel Street, Mata said.
He died later that night at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla.Oceanside police have said the fatal stabbing was retaliation for graffiti left in a rival gang neighborhood.