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Lakewood, Bellflower Sheriff’s Search for Suspect in Supermarket Parking Lot Murder

This is the parking lot where the murder took place in Bellflower on Sunday night.  The suspect is at large and is described as a male adult Hispanic between 5’09’ and 6 ft. tall with dark hair.  Randy Economy Photo

This is the parking lot where the murder took place in Bellflower on Sunday night. The suspect is at large and is described as a male adult Hispanic between 5’09’ and 6 ft. tall with dark hair. Randy Economy Photo

By Brian Hews

(Bellflower) A local man was shot and killed Sunday night in a parking lot at the corner of Woodruff Avenue and Alondra Boulevard in Bellflower, and law enforcement officials are searching for the suspect responsible for the murder.

The shooting took place on Sunday, June 2, at approximately 9:09 PM in a parking lot of a supermarket and several small mom and pop type businesses including an ice cream parlor, dry cleaners, a donut shop and at least two fast food restaurants.

On Monday, members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau told Los Cerritos Community Newspaper that the victim died from a gunshot wound.

“Witnesses told deputies that while parked in the parking lot of the location, the victim was sitting in his vehicle talking to the suspect and at some point, the suspect and the victim began arguing. The argument escalated to the point where the suspect shot the victim once in the upper torso,” said Deputy Mark Pope with the Sheriff’s Media Division located in Monterey Park.

“The victim attempted to drive off but became unconscious and collided with the east sidewalk of Woodruff Avenue,” Pope said.

The suspect then apparently drove away in his personal vehicle in an unknown direction. The only description of the suspect is that he is a male Hispanic with dark hair, approximately 5’09”-6’00”, in his early 20’s.

“Everyone is talking about what took place last night,” said one employee of an ice cream parlor who did not want to be identified.  “This is very frightening, and many of us are very concerned and scared,” the employee said.

A Bellflower resident who identified himself as Dwayne McMillan, 55, said that he has lived in the neighborhood his entire life and that violent crime in the immediate area “seems to be getting more and more out of control.”

“We love our community, and this is normally pretty safe on Sunday nights, we all need to be more aware of our surroundings these days,” he said.

The shopping center does have several cameras on site to monitor the parking lot location.

Lakewood Sheriff officials told LCCN on Monday afternoon that the investigation is still in the “early stages.”

Anyone with information about this incident is asked 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.

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