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Landlord Dispute Escalates Into A Murder-Suicide in West L.A.
Photo by Olivier Le Queinec via Shutterstock
Police say that a 56-year-old man fatally shot his landlord just after midnight before turning the gun on himself.The apparent murder-suicide happened in West Los Angeles, not far from where the 405 meets the 10 Freeway.
Police arrived and found Alphonse Bernardin Jr., 80, in a chair with two gunshot wounds to his chest. The 56-year-old suspect (whose name isn't being released) appeared to have shot himself in the head with a 9 mm automatic pistol, according to a release from the LAPD. Both were dead at the scene.
The 56-year-old man was a tenant of Bernardin's, and he lived in a converted garage attached to the back of his home in the 2400 block of Colby Avenue. Neighbors told police that they two men had been involved in an ongoing fight related to their landlord/tenant relationship.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the West Bureau Homicide detectives at (213) 382-9470.
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