Friends remember man killed in apparent random shooting during San Fernando Valley rampage

LAKE BALBOA, Calif. (KABC) -- A tearful vigil was held Saturday as friends said goodbye to Detwon Harris, who was shot and killed on a Metro bus in Lake Balboa during a vicious shooting spree last week.

"This is insane. It doesn't make any sense, I am at a loss for words," said Harris' friend, Christopher Butler.

They gathered with flowers and candles at the Orange Line's Woodley Station, where the shooting occurred on July 25.

Harris was on a bus when he was killed during an apparent random shooting, the fourth victim in a series of shootings throughout the San Fernando Valley during a roughly 12-hour span.

Gerry Dean Zaragoza allegedly first shot and killed his father and brother and wounded his mother at an apartment in Canoga Park. He then allegedly killed an acquaintance at a gas station in North Hollywood.

Police say he eventually ended up in Lake Balboa, where he reportedly walked onto the bus and shot Harris in the head. It doesn't appear there was any connection between the two, and witnesses said there was no interaction or provocation before the shooting.

"He was an amazing man, as you can see by the diversity of people that are there. So many, everybody loved him, everybody loved him," the victim's friend, Breann Bonnell said.

Harris' friends say he was a recovering addict who had finally turned his life around. They say he fought hard for what was the most important thing in his life: His son.

"He was finally getting his life together and doing the things that he needed to do, and he had his son back in his life, and I mean he was a proud dad and he worked really hard to get where he was with his son," said Harris' friend, Christine Hale.

His friends said they will be in Harris' son's life in any way they can.

Zaragoza is being held without bail and may make his first court appearance Monday.