Two men dead after wrestling for control of handgun

Two men died in the Willowbrook neighborhood of Los Angeles early Sunday after one of the men was shot trying to wrest control of a handgun from the other, who then appeared to turn the weapon on himself, authorities said.

The shootings occurred about 1 a.m. in the 400 block of East 138th Street, a few miles east of Compton, authorities said.

The victims were hanging out with a group of people in front of a residential building when one man pulled out a handgun, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Another man who tried to grab the gun was shot.

The gunman then appeared to turn the handgun on himself, according to the sheriff’s statement.

The first gunshot victim died at the scene, authorities said. The gunman was taken to a local hospital, where he died of his injuries. No other injuries were reported

Los Angeles County Coroner’s Lt. Larry Dietz identified Dominique Barnett, 24, of Los Angeles, as the man who died at the scene and Jerrod Taylor, 23, also of Los Angeles, as the man who died at the hospital.

Authorities said they don’t know whether the shootings were accidental or if the gunman was attempting to commit murder or suicide. It’s unclear what relationship the men had.

“This one’s kind of sticky,” said Sgt. Edmundo Hummel of the Sheriff’s Department Headquarters Bureau. “They’re trying to figure out what happened and we won’t know for a while.”

Sheriff’s deputies found a handgun at the site of the shooting.