Store Owner Kills Man, Cites Attempted Theft, Armed Threat

A Florence area hardware store owner was on the telephone, reporting a robbery attempt to a sheriff’s deputy, when he shot a man he said was threatening him with a piece of steel pipe, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Donald Herrins, 33, died at Martin Luther King Medical Center a short time later, Sheriff’s Sgt. Irene McReynolds said. Willie Griffin, 50, owner of A-Building Materials and Hardware Store in the 7600 block of South Compton Avenue, told deputies that Herrins had returned to the store after an earlier robbery attempt when the shooting occurred late Friday.

The incident began when Herrins went into the store brandishing a piece of flexible pipe and demanding money from Griffin, McReynolds said. She said Griffin pushed Herrins out of the store before calling the sheriff’s Firestone Station to report the incident.

As Griffin talked to the deputy, Herrins walked back into the store, this time carrying a piece of square steel pipe, McReynolds said. Fearing that Herrins was about to attack him with the pipe, Griffin fired a single shot from a handgun into Herrins’ chest, she said.

Sheriff’s officials refused to disclose what the deputy heard over the telephone. McReynolds said that such calls routinely are taped and that the district attorney’s office will review the matter to decide whether any charges should be filed. Griffin was not taken into custody.

In an unrelated incident Saturday morning, a Torrance resident shot a man he said had broken into his apartment and was attempting to steal a television set, police said.

Angel Ortiz, 30, was placed in the intensive care unit at Harbor General Hospital after undergoing surgery for a bullet wound in his right shoulder, Lt. Dennis Frandsen said.

According to Lt. Harv Siegel, Ortiz was trying to take a television set from the apartment of Terry Shea, in the 1700 block of Lincoln Avenue, at 2:30 a.m. when Shea’s wife confronted him. Ortiz struck the woman, and when she began screaming, Shea grabbed a handgun and fired at the intruder, Siegel said.

Police arrested Ortiz a few blocks from the apartment building, Siegel said.