By Brian Hews
New details are emerging surrounding a shooting early Thursday morning that resulted in the death of an Artesia resident. The name of the victim has not been officially released by law enforcement officials as of 12:05 a.m. Friday.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide confirmed to Los Cerritos Community Newspaper that detectives are continuing their investigation into the shooting death of the man whose body was found at the 11900 block of Arkansas Street at around 1:50 A.M. on Thursday morning.
Detectives said that deputies were patrolling the area when they noticed a parked vehicle with a broken window. “Upon further investigation, the deputies found a trail of blood leading from the vehicle to the front yard of the location, where they then found the victim, a 60 year-old man, who was unresponsive and had gunshot wounds to his upper torso,” said Deputy Kim Manatt a Sheriff’s spokeswoman.
Paramedics arrived and pronounced the victim dead at the scene. There is no suspect information. The motive for the shooting is unknown at this time. Sgt. Peterson of the Lakewood Sheriff’s Department said it is believed that the shooting may have occurred near the 11900 block of 167th Street. “The investigation is still in the early stages,” Peterson said.
LCCN has been sent a number of emails from residents who live near the location including one from Ed Medrano, who claims he knew the victim. “I know this man and his family as they used to rent from my dad in the same lot where we lived on Arkansas St. He was a soft-spoken man and always generous. This is a tragedy as he was the type of person that wouldn’t hurt a fly. Our thoughts and prayers are with the remaining family that they find strength in this terrible time they find themselves in. I hope they find the cowards that don’t even think about the consequences of their actions,” Medrano wrote to this newspaper on Thursday afternoon.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.