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Joseph Gatto murder update: Police looking into nearby incidents in Silver Lake
Bright Lane, where Joseph Gatto's home is located, was blocked off on Thursday as investigators combed through the crime scene.
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Hayley Fox/KPCC
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Police are looking into several earlier assaults in Silver Lake for clues in the murder of Joseph Gatto, who was found shot dead in his home on Wednesday night.
LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese told the L.A. Times that officers are reviewing several leads, including an attempted car burglary that took place the day before on a nearby street.
In an email to her neighbors, a woman wrote that she had witnessed the the attempted break-in and called after the suspect, the Times reports. She said she was threatened at gunpoint:
“The suspect had his back to me and then after a few steps turned around and aimed a gun at the car,” wrote the woman, who asked not to be identified and declined to talk about the incident to The Times.
“Do you want to die tonight?” the suspect shouted, according to the woman’s email account.
“To hear the news of the senseless murder of Mr. Gatto made me sick to my stomach. I described the suspect as brazen and felt a twinge it was the same person,” she said in the email.
Joseph Gatto, 78, was the father of California Assemblyman Mike Gatto and a well-known resident in the Silver Lake area. A retired teacher, he had recently been working as a jewelry craftsman.
Police told the Times there doesn't appear to be any evidence to suggest Gatto's murder had anything to do with his son's political career.
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