Suspect extradited from Vietnam for Orange County shooting that left 15-year-old dead
A 21-year-old man who allegedly fled to Vietnam in the days after a deadly shooting that left one teenager dead and another wounded in July 2025 has been extradited to the United States, according to Orange County prosecutors.
Quoc-Bao Viet Le is one of five co-conspirators and one of two shooters in the attack on July 5, 2025, in Stanton, which left 15-year-old Samuel Vidal dead and a 13-year-old boy critically wounded, said a news release from the Orange County District Attorney's Office. They said that the "brazen broad daylight drive-by shooting" was targeting rival gang members.
Prosecutors said that FBI agents worked with personnel from the DA's Office Organized Crime Unit and Orange County Sheriff's Department to lead the international manhunt for Le, as well as 20-year-old Ali Ibrahim Alsouqi, another co-conspirator who they believe is in Jordan.
"With the assistance of its counterparts in Vietnam, the FBI confirmed Le had entered Vietnam four days after the July 5, 2025, murder," the release said. "At the request of the FBI, Vietnamese authorities arrested Le and expulsion proceedings were initiated."
He was flown back to the U.S. on Jan. 21 and booked into the Orange County Jail. According to prosecutors, Le was charged with one count of murder with premeditation and deliberation, one count of attempted murder with premeditation and deliberation, conspiracy to commit murder and shooting into an inhabited dwelling, all of which are felonies. He was also charged with two felony enhancements of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury or death, two felony enhancements for knowing another principal was personally armed with a firearm and one felony enhancement of personal use of a firearm.
If convicted as charged, he faces 50 years to life in prison, the release said.
"Fleeing the country after allegedly committing murder will not protect you from U.S. law enforcement," said a statement from Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. "The FBI has offices throughout the world and liaisons with our international partners to pursue fugitives wherever they may hide."
Prosecutors noted that two other defendants have already been charged with multiple felonies for the shooting, both of whom remain behind bars at the Orange County Jail. Danny Huynh, 24, and Troy Quang Lu, 21, both also face murder and attempted murder charges. They are still working to locate Alsouqi and identify a fifth suspect.
Investigators say that Alsouqi "arranged for four other men to come to his Garden Grove home," where they planned the targeted shooting. They say that all five of the suspects got into Lu's Mercedes-Benz before driving to Stanton.
"Shortly before 2 p.m., Vidal and his 13-year-old friend were confronted by a group of masked men in a black Mercedes Benz in 11000 block of Court Street in Stanton, including a man later identified as Huynh, who got out of the car and began shooting at the teenage boys," the DA's release said. "The passenger in the front seat, later identified as Le, is accused of shooting out of the vehicle."
They said that Vidal was shot five times and died at the scene. The 13-year-old victim, who hasn't been publicly identified, survived after being shot in the chest.
Police arrested Lu hours after the shooting and were able to identify Huynh, Le and Alsouqui as the other occupants of the car during the shooting. Huynh was also arrested a short time later.
Huynh also faces 50 years to life for the same felony charges that Le was charged with, while Lu faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life for felony charges of murder with premeditation and deliberation, attempted murder with premeditation and deliberation, conspiracy to commit murder and shooting into an inhabited dwelling, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors also charged Alsoqui with one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder, for which he faces a sentence of 24 years to life if convicted.
"We will go to the absolute ends of the earth in the pursuit of justice," said a statement from Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. "This cold-blooded murder of a young man was planned, it was executed, and they tried as best they could to cover their tracks just as they covered their faces and the license plate of their getaway car."