Local detectives are still trying to piece together the motives and perpetrators behind the escalating violence in Newhall of late, with court records detailing their attempts to put together any digital trails a suspect might leave behind.  The latest developments for local detectives working the investigation focus around several shootings that happened over the summer.  Investigators with the station’s Juvenile and Gangs Team now suspect the incidents are tied to a power struggle between a longtime local gang and a rival San Fernando Valley faction, according to detectives’ signed, sworn statements to an L.A. County Superior Court judge.  The shootings have predominantly happened in an area surrounding Walnut Street in Newhall that a local gang has claimed as territory for decades.  In previous interviews, detectives have been hesitant to link any of the incidents or publicize any of the gang-related activity for several reasons.  Sometimes they are unrelated, as detectives also have filed statements in court with respect to an older rivalry that’s heated up again with a Canyon Country gang after a daytime double-murder at the community pool for a Newhall apartment complex in March 2023. Those incidents have primarily impacted neighborhoods surrounding Whites Canyon Road and Jakes Way in Canyon Country, as well as the numbered streets in Newhall to Valle Del Oro.  Another regularly cited reason by some law enforcement officials is that identifying the gang can not only potentially stoke more violence, but also discourage residents from coming forward. Station detectives gave that last reason as why they’re seeking the forensic recovery of information from a vehicle believed to be involved in several of the shootings.  The first shooting referenced in the court records was reported at 10:10 p.m. on June 10 outside “The Canyons Apartment,” at 24817 Walnut St.  Witnesses reported that four vehicles were struck by gunfire, as well as the window of a nearby residence. The dark charcoal/gray Lexus then sped off and out of sight, per court records.  Several residents were contacted, detectives noted. None wanted to speak.  Deputies were ultimately able to glean partial license plate information that would later be matched to the suspect’s vehicle.  Exactly a week later, a second shooting resulted in a shattered window at an unoccupied dwelling at 25011 Walnut St. Deputies once again recovered 9mm shell casings at the scene, according to detectives.  The Walnut Street shootings are not linked in court documents to the murder of Fernando Bernabe that evening on Lyons Avenue, which also was suspected as being tied to gang activity, according to station officials.  However, in the Walnut Street incident, a newer-model gray Lexus was once again seen leaving the scene, according to witness accounts cited in court records. No one was struck by gunfire in the shooting.   The report of a July 15 shooting around 8 p.m. at 24496 Valle Del Oro mentioned a gray Lexus sedan that fled that area, after one of its occupants fired numerous shots at a crowd of people.  During the course of their investigations, detectives contacted officers with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division based on the territory of the local gang’s rival.  LAPD officers reported they were investigating an Aug. 1 shooting that involved a gray Lexus, and 10 days later, the car was spotted and recognized during a traffic stop.  Officers asked the man about the bullet holes in his car and the suspect indicated he was shot at by Newhall gang members, but declined to make any additional statement.  The suspect, who has not been arrested in connection with any of the Santa Clarita shootings as of this story’s publication, is due back in a Burbank courthouse next week on a hearing connected to an unrelated incident, the details of which were not available as of press time.  The post Gangs’ ‘power struggle’ cited in court records    appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.