WESTMINSTER, Calif. – A juvenile gang member was charged as an adult today with attempted murder for shooting a 42-year-old man during an argument. Phillip Nguyen, 15, Garden Grove, is direct filed as an adult and charged with one felony count of attempted murder with willful deliberation and premeditation, and sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a firearm causing great bodily injury and criminal street gang activity. If convicted, Nguyen faces a maximum sentence of 32 years to life in state prison. The People will be requesting the defendant be held on $1 million bail at his scheduled arraignment tomorrow, April 29, 2016, at 9:00 a.m. in Department W-12, West Justice Center, Westminster.

At approximately 3:15 p.m. on April 26, 2016, Nguyen is accused of standing on the sidewalk near the victim's stopped vehicle on Westminster Avenue in front of Bolsa Grande High School. The 42-year-old male victim was seated in the front passenger seat while a woman was seated in the driver's seat, and a teenage girl was seated in the back. Nguyen, who is not a student of the high school he was near, is accused of getting into a verbal dispute with the victim and shortly thereafter shooting his gun and hitting the victim in the head and back. Upon seeing the victim wounded, the victim's girlfriend drove away in search of a nearby hospital.

Someone in the victim's car called the Garden Grove Police Department, who immediately drove to the scene. The dispatcher on the phone told them to pull over so the paramedics could transport the victim to the nearest hospital, where the victim was treated and is expected to survive.

Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Schunk of the TARGET Unit is prosecuting this case.

Orange County District Attorney / Case # 16WF0868 / April 28, 2016