Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
EXPOSITION PARK (CBSLA) – Police are investigating after an armed suspect was shot and killed following an attempted robbery early Saturday morning in Exposition Park, outside a home on 35th Place, near Normandie Avenue.
Calls about the incident came in just after midnight, when neighbors heard gunfire ring out on the street.
Officials with the Los Angeles Police Department said that a man in his 50’s was standing outside when three young men in their 20’s, armed with weapons, approached him in an attempt to rob him.
That’s when police said there was a struggle between the victim and one of the attempted robbers, causing the robbery suspect to lose his weapon. CBSLA was told that the victim, the man in his 50’s, ended up picking up the weapon and shooting the attempted robber.
The other two robbery suspects got in their car and drove off. The suspect who was shot died at the scene.
Authorities on Monday identified the suspect who died as Jordan Gonzalez, 22-years-old.
Investigators are looking for the two other suspects, alleged to be in their 20’s, who they said were also armed during the attempted robbery. They are also reviewing the home surveillance cameras of some of the houses in the area, hoping to catch a glimpse of the incident or at least a shot of the car driving away from the scene.
Residents of the neighborhood have mixed feelings on the incident, with one person stating, “I don’t know how to feel about it. Because, again, it’s an armed robbery. The guy was just defending himself. … They didn’t have to go out looking for trouble and they did, and they found it.”
Another resident shared that sentiment, “I don’t want to celebrate somebody losing their life, but, hey man, they put themselves in that position and you have to realize there could be consequences.”
Others that live in the neighborhood are hoping that something changes before someone innocent gets hurt.
One man, who lives just next to where the incident occurred expressed his frustrations that the risk was so close to his home: “It’s a little weird, to find out someone just died in front of your house. … I have no words, I’m a little speechless. Especially because it happened so close and one of the bullets could’ve ricocheted, could’ve hit something, could’ve hit a kid.”
Police said the victim of the attempted robbery is cooperating, though he is not in custody, nor in any trouble at this time while authorities investigate the situation as a case of potential self-defense.