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The gunman who opened fire on cars near the busy intersection of Sunset and Vine and was later killed by police yesterday has been identified as Tyler Brehm, a 26-year-old resident of Hollywood. His victim, who is in critical but stable condition, is a 40-year-old Hollywood music executive John Atterberry.
Yesterday police were fanned out through Los Angeles looking for clues as to why Brehm went on a shooting rampage. Brehm was a transplant from the East Coast. Both the Los Angeles Times and KTLA note that a man named Brehm has a Facebook page showing that he ended a relationship recently. Earlier this morning this same Facebook page noted that Brehm had an interest in guns and the military, but that has been taken down in just the last hour. His favorite movies were listed as "Anything With a Bad Ass," "Money," "And Alot of Guns." The Times reported that he had a photo album called "Cali Dreams," but that has been taken down as well. Police have not yet discussed a motive for Brehm's rampage, but they don't believe that he knew anyone he was shooting at.
Atterberry was the victim who was hurt the worst in the shooting. Brehm fired bullets that hit cars and trucks and even grazed a victim , but Brehm reportedly went up to Atterberry's driver's side window and shot him in the face. Although his wounds are very serious, law enforcement officers said they expect him to survive.
Atterberry is recording industry manager and promoter, who had worked with acts including the Spice Girls, Brandy and Jessica Simpson, according to the Times . Last night friends and family visited his girlfriend at his Hollywood Hills home to confirm the news, according to NBC Los Angeles .
"He's a great guy," a close friend Tyava Winborne told NBC. "He was in my wedding. He and my husband are close friends."
3:45pm: The British press is having fun with this story . A sample headline: "Gunman who fired live bullets into crowds on Hollywood street was mistaken for actor in gangster movie filmed nearby."
1:30pm: We missed this story posted last night, but the man whose leg was grazed by a bullet was Chris Godley, a photo editor at The Hollywood Reporter, which has his full story . The terrifying 5-second video of Brehm shows the moment Godley was shot. Here's a screencap:
"I processed the information very quickly. I hit my gas pedal and sped through the intersection as fast as I could," Godley told THR. "I knew he was going to take a shot at me. He took a shot and it went through my driver side door, grazed my leg, bounced off of my iPad and went into my passenger side door. It did not come out the other side of the door, so the bullet is in my door."
1:11pm: Early reports from witnesses said that the suspect fired 9 to 12 shots, but police say that Brehm reloaded once and fired off 20 rounds, according to the Times .
12:35pm: Alicia Alligood, 24, told KTLA 5 that she dated Brehm for four years before breaking up this month. She said that their break-up might have prompted his shooting rampage. She described him as a humanitarian who was "extremely motivated to change the world for the better." She said that Brehm had seemed stressed out lately and that she noticed a personality change after he met a woman, who she describes as a pharmaceutical saleswoman, who began giving him some sort of pills. Alligood said he had never been into hard drugs and he had always been "anti-pharmaceutical" before.
12:16pm: The LAPD has issued a press release about the incident. It says that of the two policemen who responded quickly to the scene and shot Brehm, one was a plainclothes detective and the other was an off-duty police officer working on a movie set nearby.
It says that the officers shot him after they ordered him to drop his weapon and he refused. Witnesses said that he pulled out a knife after he ran out of ammo, so it's not clear if he was pointing a knife or gun when he was shot.
The report says that Atterberry was shot in the upper torso as well as the face. Two other victims had minor injuries from Brehm's shooting. One was hit with a bullet that passed through his car door and grazed his left thigh. The second had "minor cuts and abrasions to his face" after a bullet hit the driver door where it met the window.
