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Crime Jan 06, 2024
Body-worn camera footage shows police confronting an armed suspect in Chatsworth moments before she was shot to death. | Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Police Department/YouTube
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Reports of shooting-related incidents once again piled up in Los Angeles County this past New Year’s week.
Man in custody in fatal shooting near LA Metro train platform
A man was in custody Thursday on suspicion of being the gunman involved in the fatal shooting of another man near the Hyde Park Station of LA Metro’s K Line over the weekend.
The shooting occurred about 12:45 p.m. Saturday at Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue, the Los Angeles Police Department reported.
On Monday, officers arrested 24-year-old Dwight Panton near 50th Street and Ninth Avenue, the LAPD reported. Panton was booked on suspicion of murder and was being held on $3.1 million bail, police said.
“Panton was wearing the same clothing worn by the suspect during the murder and was in possession of a handgun,” the LAPD said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against Panton for the murder of Adrian Gibbs, the LAPD reported.
According to the LAPD, the District Attorney’s Office also filed two counts of attempted murder and one count of assault with a firearm for his alleged involvement in two shootings in the Leimert Park area as well as a shooting in the city of Inglewood.
The crime occurred on the walkway near the Hyde Park K Line, according to Dave Sotero of LA Metro. The victim reportedly had an argument with a group of people, Sotero said.
“Metro extends its sympathies to the family of the victim,” Sotero said.
The K Line is a 5.9-mile, north/south route between the Jefferson Park and Westchester neighborhoods.
Man wounded in shooting in Panorama City
A 32-year-old man was in the hospital Wednesday after he was shot by two assailants after a verbal argument in Panorama City turned violent.
The shooting was reported at 1:45 a.m. and Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to Saticoy Street and Ventura Canyon Avenue where they learned the victim was engaged in an argument with the suspects when suddenly the confrontation turned physical, an LAPD spokesman told City News Service.
At some point, one of the suspects drew a gun and shot the victim, who was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
Police said the suspects ran away from the scene in an unknown direction.
Authorities ID man shot to death in Palmdale; investigation continuing
A man who was fatally shot in Palmdale on New Year’s Day was identified Tuesday.
The shooting occurred about 6:25 a.m. Monday in the 38700 block of 2nd Street East, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported.
Brent Wills, 24, of Palmdale died at the scene, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner.
According to reports from the scene, the shooting occurred at a New Year’s Eve house party. No arrests were reported, and no suspect information was available.
Anyone with information on the case was urged to call the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Tipsters wishing to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
Two shot dead, eight wounded at New Year’s party
Two people were shot to death and eight others were wounded Monday morning at an underground New Year’s party in downtown Los Angeles, authorities said.
The shooting occurred at 12:53 a.m. at 2350 Porter St., according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Uniformed officers assigned to Newton Area received a radio call of an “ambulance shooting,” at 15th Street and Santa Fe Avenue, police said. As officers arrived on the scene, they heard several gunshots coming from the area of Santa Fe Avenue and Porter Street.
The officers then observed a large crowd of people fleeing the area, where there were multiple victims laying on the street and sidewalk on Porter Street, between Santa Fe Avenue and Mateo Street.
Life-saving efforts were attempted, and several victims were transported to local hospitals, but two victims — a man and a woman — did not respond to medical treatment and were pronounced deceased at scene, police said.
A man and a woman who were killed in a shooting at an underground New Year’s party in downtown Los Angeles that left eight other people wounded were identified Tuesday.
Deven Whitaker, a 24-year-old Los Angeles man, and Miah Banks, a 26-year-old Azusa woman, died at the scene, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner and the LAPD.
Investigators said the victims were attending a New Year’s Eve celebration at an underground party located on the 2300 block of Porter Street. During the party, a dispute occurred between unknown people resulting in shots being fired.
An unknown number of suspects fired multiple rounds striking the 10 total victims, police said. Those suspects remain at large.
“On behalf of the entire City, I want to extend my condolences to those impacted by the mass shooting over the holiday weekend in Downtown Los Angeles,” Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement Tuesday.
“The Office of Community Safety has worked around the clock since the incident with community interventionists as well as with the Los Angeles Police Department to provide support for those impacted and to hold those responsible accountable.
“In the coming week, I will be meeting with survivors, community leaders as well as with interventionists to discuss proactive ways we can work to ensure that all Angelenos are safe. Eliminating gun violence in our communities remains a top priority of my administration.”
Anyone with information was urged to call Detective Howarth, Los Angeles Police Department, Operations-Central Bureau Homicide, at 213-996-4143.
Encino woman mistakenly shot by security guard at her home
A woman was wounded when a private security guard responding to a burglar alarm at her Encino home mistakenly shot her, authorities said Monday.
The shooting occurred at 8 p.m. Sunday in the 5200 block of Encino Avenue, according to a desk officer at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Operations Center.
The wounded woman was taken to a hospital for treatment, he said. Her condition was not available.
Police release video of woman’s fatal shooting in Chatsworth
Authorities released body-cam footage Sunday showing the fatal police shooting of a woman who allegedly threatened her sister with a gun and set a house on fire in Chatsworth.
On Dec. 1, fire crews and the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a home in the 9600 block of North Laramie Avenue at about 2 p.m., finding the structure in flames. Police had received a report of an assault with a deadly weapon, involving a woman possibly armed with a gun.
According to the LAPD, officers made their way into the backyard of the home and confronted the suspect, then opened fire when she refused to drop a weapon.
Paramedics took the woman to a hospital in grave condition, where she later died.
With the scene cleared, fire crews then moved in and doused the house fire within 20 minutes, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. No officers were injured.
The LAPD later identified the suspect as 63-year-old Lisa Davis of Newbury Park.
Along with multiple body-cam videos from officers on the scene, the LAPD also released the sister’s 911 call. The woman can be heard claiming that her sister broke into her house armed with a gun and pepper-sprayed her. The caller said she was hiding in a bathroom, then told the 911 dispatchers that her sister had set the house on fire.
Body-cam footage from the first arriving officers showed the house on fire. Officers got the resident out safely and searched the back yard, dodging flames while asking if there was anyone else in the yard.
One video shows an officer armed with a rifle encountering a woman with her back against a wall, pointing what looks like a gun at the officer. The officer demands to see her hands and fires four shots when she does not drop the gun.
The officer who fired the shots at Davis was identified as Christopher McCrea of the LAPD’s Devonshire division.
The shooting remains under investigation.
Person found shot inside vehicle on 5 Freeway
A person was found shot inside a vehicle Sunday on the Santa Ana (5) Freeway in the Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs area, according to multiple media reports.
A California Highway Patrol unit responded to the parked vehicle on the 5 Freeway around 3 p.m. near Carmenita Road, ABC7 reported.
The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment of a wound, but the person’s condition was not immediately clear.
The age and gender of the victim were also not reported.
It was unclear if the person was shot on the freeway or somewhere else.
Man found fatally wounded inside a vehicle in Santa Clarita
A man was found fatally wounded inside a vehicle Sunday morning in Santa Clarita.
The shooting occurred about 4:30 a.m. Sunday in the 25700 block of Vista Fairways Drive, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported.
“As deputies responded to the location, they were updated that a vehicle was in the middle of the roadway,” according to a news statement. “Upon deputies’ arrival, they located the vehicle and discovered the victim in the driver’s seat, unresponsive and suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.”
The victim was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead.
No motive or suspect information was available.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting was asked to call the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Tipsters wishing to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
One killed, five wounded in Hawthorne strip mall
Six people were shot — one fatally — at a Hawthorne strip mall early Sunday.
The shooting was reported at 12:27 a.m. in the 3100 block of Rosecrans Avenue, near Crenshaw Boulevard and the Gardena city limits, according to Lt. Art Spence of the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau.
The shooting occurred at a strip mall, according to a watch commander at the Hawthorne Police Department.
Officers arriving at the scene located a man suffering from gunshot wounds. Paramedics transported him to a hospital, where he was listed in stable condition, according to a sheriff’s department statement.
“Upon further investigation, Hawthorne police officers learned there were additional victims who suffered from gunshot wounds at the location,” according to the statement. “These additional victims were transported by other means to surrounding hospitals.”
One of the victims, a woman, was pronounced dead at a hospital. Three additional victims were listed in stable condition and one victim was in critical condition.
The wounded were taken to Memorial Hospital of Gardena, a Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatcher said.
Authorities have no suspect information.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting was asked to call the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Tipsters wishing to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
Man killed in Gramercy Park shooting
A 27-year-old man was shot to death Dec. 30 in the Gramercy Park area of Los Angeles.
The shooting occurred at 2:52 p.m. Dec. 30 in the 1500 block of West 94th Street, Officer Drake Madison of the Los Angeles Police Department told City News Service.
The victim was sitting inside a vehicle when an unknown suspect fired multiple shots at him, the officer said.
Arriving officers found the victim unconscious and not breathing, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, Madison said. Paramedics rushed him to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police seek killer of man on Crenshaw Boulevard
A man was shot to death Dec. 30 in South Los Angeles.
The shooting occurred about 12:45 p.m. Dec. 30 in the 5800 block of South Crenshaw Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The victim was described as a man between 25 and 30 years old. He was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the department. His name will be released after notification of next of kin.
There was no suspect description.
Anyone with additional information is urged to contact South Bureau Homicide Division detectives at 323-786-5100. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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