Makeup Artists’ Union Official Is Ambushed, Shot in Parking Lot

A masked man ambushed and shot the business manager of Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Union Local No. 706 as he left a union board meeting in North Hollywood early Wednesday, Los Angeles police said.

The shooting victim, Howard Smit, 74, of North Hollywood was taken to the Medical Center of North Hollywood for treatment of a single gunshot wound in the chest, police said. A hospital spokesman said Smit was in good condition.

Police have no suspects and do not know the motive for the shooting, Detective Howard Landgren said.

No one else was injured in the 12:10 a.m. shooting, which occurred as Smit stood with his wife, Edith, union president John Inzerella and another man in a parking lot behind union offices at 11519 Chandler Blvd., Detective Phil Sowers said.

Smit was unlocking his car when a sniper fired a shot from behind a fence next to a nearby alley, Inzerella said. Smit was struck in the chest and the others took cover on the ground, he said.

The gunman fired four or five more shots, then fled in a car occupied by one other person, Landgren said.

“The fellow was wearing a ski mask. . . . He just started opening fire. There wasn’t any attempt at robbery or anything,” Inzerella said.

Smit was attending the monthly board meeting of the union, which is affiliated with the International Alliance of Theater and Stage Employees. Smit has been Local 706’s business manager for more than 12 years, Inzerella said.

“I’ve known the man for 26 years and I can’t think of any reason why anyone would want to do that to him,” Inzerella said.

Smit is a trustee of the international alliance’s pension plan and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ nominating committee that selects Oscar nominees for the best makeup artist, Inzerella said.

Smit was transferred Wednesday afternoon from the Medical Center of North Hollywood to another hospital, which police would not name.