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Police report that a 25-year-old man sipping coffee on Wednesday, waiting for his boss to pick him up in downtown Los Angeles, was shot point-blank in the face by an assailant who then rifled through the his pockets and fled down an alley, reports the Daily News.
According to Lt. Paul Vernon, head the LAPD's Central Detective Division, the shooting occurred on Pico Boulevard, between Main and Los Angeles, at approximately 7:00 a.m. Officers found the victim's tooth near a pool of blood, the bullet reportedly went through his jaw and out, and a shell casing was found near a wall. The Daily News reports that the victim, who's name has not been released, was hospitalized in stable condition.
According to Vernon, reports the Daily News, security officers noticed a young, tall Latino man wearing a baseball cap and white shirt with gray Ed Hardy-like writing, take off a green shirt from around his neck, wipe his face, and run.
Downtown robberies have dropped 12 percent since 2009, report police, with guns used in only 2 percent of crimes in the area. Said Vernon, this situation is " 'quite rare, especially an armed robbery with shots fired...That makes this suspect very dangerous. Someone knows who he is, and we want to know who he is too,' " reports the Daily News.
