Authorities Thursday continued their efforts to find the gunman who killed a man who was apparently trying to intervene in a dispute involving a raffle in front of the Fairfax District shoe store where he worked.
Los Angeles Police Department officers responded about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday to Melrose and Genesee avenues and found the wounded man lying on the street. The man, identified by fellow employees as Jayren Bradford, died at a hospital.
Police later learned there was a dispute “between a group of males and females” at a shoe raffle in front of a store in the 7700 block of Melrose.
A man in his 20s wearing dark clothing shot Bradford and fled northbound on Genesee in a silver Toyota Camry with a temporary license plate number BC10D32, police said.
Fellow employees at the Shoe Palace told Fox11 that Bradford, a clerk, was killed trying to break up a fight outside the store.
At a memorial created outside the store to honor Bradford, Bennett Francois told KTLA5 about his slain friend.
“He was trying to help out … to defuse the situation,” Francois said. “And now, he’s passed away. And the sad thing is, his brother (who’s) like a twin to him, and his mother, they’re all in Colorado. This was an innocent kid; like, probably a straight-A kid while he was in school. So, now, we don’t know what his whole potential could have been.”
On Wednesday, Keyshawn Williams described Bradford as a great co-worker.
“He was an outgoing peer who always wanted to make friends, ” Williams told Fox 11. “He made me feel welcome, like this is somewhere you want to be.”
Anyone with information on the case was urged to call LAPD West Bureau Homicide investigators at 213-382-9470. Calls made during non-business hours or on weekends can be directed to 877-527-3247.
Anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or submitted online at lacrimestoppers.org.
