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Popular High School Soccer Player Shot and Killed in Winnetka
Photo by via stevendepolo Flickr
Less than an hour after being dropped off from a high school soccer game, popular El Camino Real player Francisco Javier Rodriguez Jr., 17, was shot to death outside his home in Winnetka.
Police were called to the 6900 block of Cozycroft Avenue at about 6:10 p.m. last night, according to a statement released by the LAPD. Rodriguez was found on the front lawn unconscious and not breathing, with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to the hospital where he later died.
According to City News Service, officials believe that the attack was deliberate.
"This was not a random shooting," said LAPD Detective David Peteque. "This was definitely targeted toward a specific individual."
A witness who spoke to Rodriguez after the shooting, telling the boy to "hold on," reports that a teenage girl came to Rodriguez' front door and got him out of the house.
"...he came out, he wasn't even wearing shoes, he was wearing socks," said neighbor Jose Meza. "He must've went up to the car, they shot him, and he turned around and took steps toward his house, and he landed right on this front yard.''
At first, investigators thought that the girl pulled the trigger, but according to the LA Times, officials are backing off of that theory.
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No suspects have been detained yet, and police don't know what might have motivated someone to shoot Rodriguez. Meanwhile, a Facebook page has been set up for him in memorium, and his father, who was in Mexico at the time of his son's death, is flying back to California.
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