2 Big Woodland Hills Police Events, 0 Related Nixle Alerts. LAPD Dropping The Ball?
I’d like to point out that in the past week, there have been 2 big police incidents in Woodland Hills that I know of. The first being the May 5th bomb threat at the Rite Aid (Topanga & Ventura) and the second being yesterday’s Best Buy shooting (Owensmouth & Victory). Both incidents resulted in massive police presence, street closures, helicopters, etc.
Now, the LAPD has a much touted system called Nixle that is from what I understand designed to be used to notify the public in these situations – in real time. It should be pointed out that in both incidents LAPD failed to use the system. However, during the same interval the system has been used to high-five about past crimes being solved, one about a purse snatching and the other about a burglar being apprehended (Canoga Park).
During a recent e-mail with LAPD Topanga Area SLO Brent Rygh he himself brought up to me that this was a known issue that he would be working on. Why isn’t the Nixle system being used for breaking police activity that the public should be informed about as it is happening as it has been in the past?
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Detailed Daily News Article From Yesterday’s Best Buy Shooting
I find it cool that Daily News linked to my blog in the right hand media/reference bar on this article. General consensus seems to be he fired at officers and they shot him. Article mentions bullet holes visible in the walls of the Best Buy, but I drove by today and didn’t see them – however I wasn’t really looking. I did take some pictures, which I will review later. I have previous pictures of the external facade of the Best Buy and there are defects in the tile that appear to be bullet damage that were already there weeks ago.
CANOGA PARK — A man who fled to the San Fernando Valley Monday after allegedly killing his estranged wife in Long Beach was shot and killed by LAPD officers outside Best Buy, sending customers and employees scurrying for cover inside the giant electronics store.
The 11 a.m. shooting in front of the Canoga Park electronics store ended a manhunt that began three hours earlier in Long Beach, where the the suspect allegedly shot his wife in the head in a parking lot after abducting her from a nearby apartment.
The couple’s 2-year-old son was found in the apartment with a family member.
Police said the suspect, identified as Donovan Morris and in his 30s, drove to Woodland Hills to meet with an uncle. The uncle phoned authorities after Morris told him he had “killed his family,” said LAPD Lt. Dave Storaker.
Morris then left the Woodland Hills home in the 6600 block of Glade Avenue and made his way to the Best Buy at Victory Boulevard and Owensmouth Avenue.
It is unclear why Morris went to the store or what exactly happened when he got there. Some reports said Morris held a gun to his head, while witnesses at the scene said he engaged police in a brief firefight in front of the entrance to the store.
Shopper Tim Coyle, 33, of Winnetka said he was in the store getting his daughter’s laptop fixed when he heard police shouting outside.
“All of a sudden they (police) yelled `Shut the doors! Shut the doors!’ Then I hear gunshots,” Coyle said, adding a number of customers dove to the floor.
Coyle, who described himself as a gun aficionado, said he heard multiple gunshots from the suspect’s weapon as well as shots from police officers.
He said the customers were taken into a security room inside the building for safety.
Multiple shell casings and a handgun could be seen on the ground where the suspect’s body had lain and bullet holes peppered a wall of the building. The busy stretch of Victory boulevard was roped off to drivers and pedestrians for nearly three hours as officers scoured the crime scene.
Please visit the Daily News site to read the rest of this article.
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Violence Clearly On Rise In Los Angeles, And Spilling Into Valley
Yesterday was the biggest day ever, as far as I can tell, for the Hills of Woodland site, with over 1,200 visitors and almost 50 new Facebook “likes” for the site’s FB page. At least something good comes from this time of madness; people actually pay attention to what’s going on around them.
What’s also interesting, I feel, is all of the comments on this site and our Facebook page from people who lived here and left saying, “Wow this place has gone to ****.” I don’t think that is true, but it does seem that some people are becoming increasingly desperate and violence is the result.
That being said, there was a good recap of an excruciatingly violent week in Los Angeles on the LA Times’ site today.
Homicide Report: 20 killings last week in L.A. County, 3 in Long Beach
Coroner’s officials reported 20 killings between May 4 and early Monday, bringing the year-to-date total to 242, according to data collected for the Times’ Homicide Report database.
The total was more than double the previous week and included several shootings that left two or more people dead. At least 19 involved guns. The cause of death in the most recent case, involving an unidentified Latino believed to be 25 to 30, was not immediately available.
At least four homicides were tied to family issues. Authorities said Diane Newlander, 73, was shot to death by her husband in Beverly Hills in an apparent murder-suicide.
Three members of one family in Hawaiian Gardens, a father, daughter and son, were gunned down in their home by the daughter’s ex-boyfriend. Joseph Mercado, 26, was charged Monday with three counts of murder in Los Angeles Superior Court. Authorities allege he went room by room targeting the mother of his child and her family. Mercado was shot and wounded by a sheriff’s deputy as he left the home about 4 a.m. May 6.
The city of Long Beach experienced three homicides over the week, all possibly gang-related, according to police. The three killings do not including the shooting death Monday of a woman on Ocean Boulevard in what authorities called a family dispute.
Lee Kinikini, 25, was shot to death Tuesday, May 4, in the 700 block of Harding Street, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.
Officers responded to reports of gunfire shortly before 5 p.m. and discovered Kinikini’s body with gunshot wounds to his upper body. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The preliminary investigation found that Kinikini was standing in a driveway when he was approached by an unknown suspect and shot several times, police said. The assailant was last seen fleeing south down a nearby alley on foot.
Joshua Gaither, 30, died Wednesday, May 5, in the 2100 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, coroner’s officials said.
Police found Gaither on the sidewalk suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper and lower body in the early morning hours. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
And Mauricio Sotelo, 20, was shot to death Thursday, May 6, on the corner of 14th Street and Cedar Avenue, according to the coroner’s office.
Police responded to a shooting call about 1:11 a.m and found Sotelo suffering from a gunshot wound to his torso. Sotelo was taken to a hospital, where he later died, police said.
Investigators have neither a suspect nor a motive in the case.
The Times’ Homicide Report provides an interactive map and database of all homicides in Los Angeles County reported by the coroner since Jan. 1, 2007.
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Man Shot At Woodland Hills Best Buy Identified – And Dead, Reportedly Shot At Police
Photo hotlinked from KTLA.com
According to LAist the man’s name is Donovan Morris, and to other reports, he killed his child’s mother early this morning in Long Beach. The KTLA article below pretty much has all of the details. See our photos from after the shooting in this post.
CBS2 writes (I’ve spliced together 2 versions of the story for more completeness):
Police say a gunman who kidnapped and killed the mother of his daughter in Long Beach has been killed by police in the San Fernando Valley.
Long Beach Sgt. Dina Zapalski says the man forced the woman from her condominium during a dispute and shot her in a parking garage, then fled.
Zapalski says investigators believe the man who died around 10 a.m. Monday outside a Best Buy store in Canoga Park was the same man who shot the woman nearly three hours earlier.
The suspect was killed after Los Angeles police responded to a report of a man with a gun in front of the store at Victory Boulevard and Owensmouth Avenue.
The armed suspect allegedly started shooting at officers and was shot several times, CBS 2/KCAL 9’s Mike Case reported.
After the shooting, the 30-year-old man showed up at his uncle’s home in Woodland Hills, about 35 miles away, and said he had “killed his family,” Los Angeles police Lt. Dave Storaker said.
Los Angeles police say the 30-year-old man drove about 35 miles to his uncle’s home in Woodland Hills but fled again when the relative called police.
A man who is suspected of kidnapping and shooting a woman in Long Beach this morning, leaving her body in a parking structure, was shot during a standoff in front of a San Fernando Valley Best Buy a few hours later.
In what police believe was a family dispute, Donovan Morris apparently took a woman from her home at 7:35 a.m. before killing her. Long Beach Police notified the LAPD as they believed Morris was headed towards his uncle’s home in Woodland Hills. A standoff between police and Morris occurred at a nearby Best Buy in Canoga Park. Witnesses said they saw Morris holding a gun to his head.
KTLA has a photo of the man after he was shot, they write:
LONG BEACH — A gunman who police say kidnapped and killed the mother of his daughter in Long Beach was shot and fatally wounded by LAPD officers two and a half hours later outside a Best Buy store in Woodland Hills.
It all began when the unidentified woman was abducted from a home in the 200 block of West Ocean Boulevard early Monday morning, according to Long Beach police Sgt. Israel Ramierz.
The woman was found fatally shot about 7:30 a.m. in the 200 block of West Ocean Boulevard, officials said.
“She was taken there by force,” said Lisa Massacani, a spokeswoman for the Long Beach Police Department.
“It looks like it was a family dispute.”
According to Ramirez, officers received information that the suspect was still at the location.
“We immediately locked down the area and conducted a search using our SWAT members,” Ramirez said.
A few hours later, police in Woodland Hills received a call of a man with a gun outside a Best Buy store on Victory Boulevard and Owensmouth Avenue.
Los Angeles police say the 30-year-old man, identified as Donovan Morris, drove about 35 miles to his uncle’s home in Woodland Hills but fled again when the relative called police. Police say officers spotted his car and followed it to the store, where Morris man got out and was shot when he refused to drop a handgun.
Officers were trying to prevent him from entering the store when they opened fire, officials said.
Morris was taken to the hospital where he died.
It was not immediately clear whether the woman was Morris’ wife or his girlfriend, according to Sgt. Dina Zapalski. The couple’s daughter, who was in the condo, was not hurt. Zapalski did not know her age.
There were no reports of other injuries.
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Photos From Scene Of Best Buy Shooting
Best Buy Shooting Pictures
After hearing about the incident from some friends and readers, I headed over to Best Buy to see what was going on. Owensmouth was closed off, as well as Victory Blvd in front of Best Buy. Took the pictures below, including one of the individual’s shoes which was visible on the ground in front of the Best Buy. These pictures were taken at around 12:30pm.
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Developing: Man Shot By Police At Woodland Hills/Warner Center/Canoga Park Best Buy
A person in front of the Best Buy electronics store at Owensmouth Avenue and Victory Boulevard in Canoga Park and reportedly holding a gun to his head Monday was shot by officers, according to KABC-TV.The suspect was taken away in an ambulance, but his condition is unclear, according to reports.
As of 11:55 a.m. Monday, Owensmouth Avenue and Victory Boulevard are closed to traffic while Los Angeles police investigate the incident.
A friend tells me the television news is reporting that the man killed his wife over a custody dispute in Long Beach then showed up at the Best Buy where he was shot by police.
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Purse Snatcher Nabbed By Heroic Bystanders In Woodland Hills
I’d love to hear more about this story if anyone knows anything. The article says this happened near 6300 Canoga Ave, which would mean near The Cheesecake Factory.
Update: This happened at the Hilton on Canoga Avenue. Thanks to Gus H. and The Man From Tallahassee for bringing this KCAL9 Video Report to my attention.
LAPD issued the following advisory today via Nixle:
Local residents come to woman’s aid, chase down and catch purse thief in Woodland Hills.
Local residents are out-of-town woman’s heroes
On May 9, 2010, a 65-year-old woman was in town for her mother’s funeral when a 20-year-old thief snatched her purse and ran. The woman yelled for help, and two men took off in hot pursuit of the suspect. The suspect tried to fight with the men, but they overcame him and held him on the ground in the 6300 block of Canoga Avenue. Two other local residents came and assisted in holding the thief for police.
When officers arrived, they took the suspect into police custody and returned the woman’s purse, with all contents intact. The suspect was booked for Grand Theft and is currently being held on $50,000 bail.
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