Two Dead In Los Angeles Smoke Shop Shooting; Gunmen On The Loose

Two men are dead and two suspects are on the loose after gunfire erupted at a smoke shop in the Vermont Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles overnight. Officers responded to an assault with a deadly weapon call in the 8600 block of South Figueroa Street shortly before 10 p.m. Two victims, a 39-year-old man and a man in his 20s, were found inside the smoke shop with multiple gunshot wounds, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson confirmed. Both victims, whose identities have not been released, were pronounced dead at the scene. It was unclear if they were customers or employees of the store. Investigators learned that two male suspects, believed to be in their 20s, walked into the Figueroa Mini-Market smoke shop and fired multiple rounds at the victims. The gunmen fled in a vehicle and remain on the loose, police said. No description of the suspects or their vehicle has been released.

KTLA 5

Police To Seek Public Help To Solve Killing Of Man At South LA Gas Station

Los Angeles Police Department detectives and relatives of the victim will make a public plea Wednesday for potential witnesses to come forward with information about the fatal shooting of a 32-year-old man at a gas station in South Los Angeles. Marquette Deon Scott Jr. was shot around 11 p.m. Dec. 3 while sitting inside a vehicle at a Sinclair station in the 8500 block of South Hoover Street near Manchester Avenue, police said at the time. Scott died at the scene. Video from the scene showed two suspects approach in a vehicle, then stop and get out, open fire and return to the vehicle and drive away from the scene, police said. There was no immediate word on a possible motive for the shooting. Scott’s mother, Melanie Gammage, told Fox11 after the shooting that her son was a father of four children, and he was out that night buying Christmas presents. At a news conference Wednesday morning, LAPD Capt. Jamie Bennett and homicide detectives will join with relatives and friends of Scott to publicize a $50,000 reward being offered for information leading to the person or people who carried out the killing.

MyNewsLA

Killer Of 44-Year-Old Man Assaulted In South Los Angeles Sought By Police

Homicide detectives are searching for the killer of a 44-year-old man who was violently assaulted in South Los Angeles earlier this month, police said Tuesday. Officers found Chong Yun suffering from injuries to his head and face after they responded to the 8800 block of South Hoover Street just after 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 5, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. They had received a call about a man down in the area, which is near the Westmont neighborhood of South LA. Paramedics with the LA County Fire Department tried to save the man but ultimately pronounced him dead at the scene, LAPD said. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, Yun's cause of death was blunt head trauma and he died in a park recreational area. No description of the suspect is available, according to LAPD, and the motive behind the deadly assault remains under investigation. Those with information are urged to call South Bureau Homicide Division detectives at 323-786-5100. Calls made during non-business hours or on weekends should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (1-877-527-3247). People wishing to remain anonymous can call LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477) or visit lacrimestoppers.org.

CBS 2

Johnny Wactor’s Accused Killers Tied To Thefts In L.A., Beverly Hills, Ontario, Police Say

Searches of homes of gang members charged with murder in the shooting death of actor Johnny Wactor uncovered evidence tying them to thefts in L.A., Beverly Hills and the Inland Empire, the interim Los Angeles Police Department chief said. While serving search warrants in the arrest of four men connected to the May 25 slaying of Wactor, the LAPD’s organized retail task force and Central Bureau Homicide Division found evidence related to a series of pharmacy and retail store thefts, Interim Police Chief Dominic Choi told the Police Commission on Tuesday. The evidence is linked to thefts in Los Angeles, the unincorporated Lennox area, Beverly Hills, Rialto and Ontario, Choi said. The chief said more than 50 search warrants were conducted in Wactor’s case, culminating in the arrests of four men with known associations to a notorious South Los Angeles street gang. Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón on Monday charged Robert Barceleau and Sergio Estrada, both 18, with murder in Wactor’s death. Authorities say Barceleau shot the “General Hospital” actor after he confronted him, Estrada and a third man — Leonel Gutierrez — as the trio jacked up his car to steal its catalytic converter.

Los Angeles Times

'They Don't Care About The Alarms': Van Nuys Weapon Store Burglarized

A Van Nuys store that sells non-lethal weapons was burglarized early Tuesday morning. Just after 3 a.m., the suspects smashed a window and made their way inside the Nake Store on Van Nuys Blvd. near Raymer St. The store sells non-lethal pistols and riffles, which could easily be mistaken for real weapons. The non-lethal weapons and rifles use kinetic projectiles and Co2 gas. Some of the weapons are commonly used by law enforcement agencies. At least five suspects spent 20 minutes in the store and got away with over half a dozen weapons, projectiles, and more. "They went to the back storage and then they actually went through boxes. They took their dear sweet time, they don't care about the alarms. They don't care about what they did. There's a couple of them with faces completely shown. Five guys total. They jumped from the front, when they saw law enforcement they continued in the back alley, and they took their dear sweet time in the back. They don't even care about law enforcement showing up," said owner Mike Mahfoud.

FOX 11

Father-Daughter Duo Arrested In Southern California Retail Theft Bust

A father and daughter were arrested after authorities shut down a theft ring and discovered nearly $400,000 worth of stolen merchandise. On July 30, California Highway Patrol’s Organized Retail Theft Task Force served a search warrant at a Los Angeles home where stolen items were being stored and later sold at an open-air market in Torrance. The leader of the fence operation, Jose Cuadra, 41, was arrested at the home after officers discovered nearly $400,000 worth of stolen retail merchandise including designer purses, shoes and perfume. The stolen merch was being sold as legitimate brand-name items by Cuadra, authorities said. Investigators had initially trailed two suspects who led them to Cuadra’s home. The suspects, who acted as “boosters” in the scheme, were identified as Johny Arciniegas-Cortes, 46, and his daughter, Paula Arciniegas, 28. Boosters are individuals who steal items from stores and sell the merch to fence operators who will then sell the items to the public for profit.

KTLA 5

CBP Uncovers $5 Million Worth Of Meth Disguised As Watermelons

Border Patrol agents at the Otay Mesa facility seized a shipment of nearly 5,000 pounds of methamphetamine disguised as watermelons -- an amount worth more than $5 million, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The large discovery was made last Friday when CBP officers asked the driver of a commercial tractor-trailer for a secondary inspection. CBP officers said the 29-year-old driver was bringing the shipment from Mexico. During the second inspection, authorities discovered 1,200 packages disguised as watermelons, which was confirmed to be a total weight of 4,587 pounds of methamphetamine. The shipment was estimated to be worth more than $5 million. The driver was taken into custody by Homeland Security Investigations. CBP also announced the seizure of nearly 600 pounds of methamphetamine inside a shipment of celery on Aug. 9 at the same location. In this instance, a 34-year-old man was taken into custody. The street value of this discovery was estimated to be $755,000. "As drug cartels continue to evolve their smuggling techniques, we will continue finding new and better ways to prevent these dangerous drugs and other contraband from entering the country,” said Rosa E. Hernandez, Port Director for the Area Port of Otay Mesa. According to CBP, the seizure is part of Operation Apollo, a multi-agency law enforcement operation targeting the smuggling of fentanyl into the United States that began on Oct. 26, 2023.

NBC 4

Woman Indicted In Fatal Ambush Of Florida Deputies, May Face Death Penalty

The mother arrested in the horrific ambush that killed a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy was indicted Monday on multiple charges and may face the death penalty. Julie Ann Sulpizio, 48, was charged by a grand jury with being a principal to the first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, which is punishable by execution. Under Florida law, principals to a crime are people who aided or abetted in its commission and can be punished as if they committed the crime themselves. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty, according to a press release from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. On Aug. 2, Sulpizio, who claimed to be inspired by God, attempted to lure several residents of her Eustis neighborhood whom she considered sinners into her family’s home so her husband, Michael, and daughters Cheyenne and Savannah could kill them, as she later admitted to deputies. She attacked several neighbors at their own homes nearby, choking one and intending that they would follow her back to the Sulpizio home. When the neighbors called deputies, Julie Ann Sulpizio attempted to lure both the neighbors and deputies into her home, police say, but instead she was arrested and taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation.

Orlando Sentinel

Firefighters Rescue 2 People And Dog In North Hollywood House Fire

Two people were hospitalized Wednesday morning after they were rescued from a house fire in North Hollywood. Firefighters responded to the burning two-story home at about 2:30 a.m. in the 11000 block of West Sarah Street. Two men who were alerted to the fire by a smoke alarm told firefighters there were people trapped inside the 3,300-square-foot house. A 50-year-old woman in grave condition and an 83-year-old man in serious condition were rescued and transported to the hospital. Three cats died in the fire. A dog resuscitated by firefighters is expected to recover. The fire was extinguished in about 27 minutes. Details about a cause were not immediately available.

NBC 4

‘A Much More Infectious’ COVID Variant Fueling California’s Relentless Surge

California’s relentless FLiRT-fueled COVID surge is continuing to spawn infections at a dizzying rate, with coronavirus levels in wastewater reaching some of the highest levels seen since 2022. Wastewater readings are now higher than all but one COVID peak in the last two years, and have far surpassed those seen during the typical summertime seasonal spikes in the vaccine era. “This is a very large surge that we are seeing currently. This is starting to rival, really, what we saw this past winter,” said Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious diseases at Kaiser Permanente Southern California. For the week that ended Aug. 10, coronavirus levels in sewage were 84% of last winter’s peak in California, according to estimates posted Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Coronavirus levels in wastewater have already blown past the peaks for the prior two summers, as well as the winter of 2022 to 23. “It’s so surprising to me that it hasn’t gone down yet,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at UC San Francisco. “It’s a little bit more of a prolonged season for California.”

Los Angeles Times

About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 8,900 dedicated and professional sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPPL serves to advance the interests of LAPD officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education.