Burbank shooting victim remembered as a family man
The 43-year-old Burbank man who was shot to death outside his apartment building Thursday on Providencia Avenue was described by a neighbor as a barber who enjoyed barbecues on his porch with his wife, two small children and large extended family.
The victim, identified as Antwan “Tony” Haroun, was shot multiple times just before 11 p.m. as he returned home from work, authorities said.
Burbank homicide detectives on Friday continued to investigate possible leads and a motive.
“I’m a little shocked,” said CJ Feldbau, who has lived in the complex with Haroun’s family for four years. “I’m more worried and concerned for the family.”
Feldbau was watching television with a friend Thursday evening when he heard four gun shots echo through the stairwell.
“We hunkered down, locked up,” he said. “Soon after — blood-curling screams.”
The screams, he said, persisted for 30 minutes to an hour.
When Feldbau walked down the stairs to see what had happened, he said he saw Haroun on the ground, suffering from three gunshot wounds to his head and one to his torso. Two police officers and Haroun’s wife were at the scene.
“He seemed to be breathing,” Feldbau said, adding that he was immediately told by police to leave the scene. “He never made it into the door.”
Haroun was transported to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Outside Haroun’s front door on Friday, colorful tricycles and children’s bikes were propped up against the wall. Neighbors trickled in and out, comforting each other as they passed.
“I can’t imagine they’re OK, I can’t imagine they’d want to live here,” Feldbau said, of Haroun’s family.
A friend of Haroun at the scene who declined to give his name said “he was like a brother to me.”
“We don’t know what happened,” he said.
The shooting death is the first homicide in Burbank since early 2009, when there were two murders — one in January and one in February.
“This doesn’t happen very often,” Burbank police Officer Joshua Kendrick said. “It’s a very safe city.”
Parents of students at Joaquin Miller Elementary School across the street from the scene of the shooting were notified about the incident Friday morning.
Director of Elementary Education Thomas Kissinger said the students were “safe and secure,” and kept away from areas near the crime scene during recess periods as the investigation continued during the day.
“There’s nothing for [parents] to be alarmed about,” he said.
But for residents at the apartment building, it was a different story.
“It’s terrible,” Feldbau said, outside the apartment complex. “Nothing ever happens in Burbank — that’s why I live here.”
Anyone with information on the shooting was encouraged to call Burbank police Det. Jeff Lamoureaux at (818) 238-3246.
-- Alene Tchekmedyian, Times Community News
Follow Alene Tchekmedyian on Google+ and on Twitter: @atchek