Robbers Posing as Deliverymen Slay Huntington Beach Man, 26

Three armed robbers posing as deliverymen burst into a Huntington Beach condominium Thursday morning and fatally shot a family member who arrived at the residence minutes later, authorities said.

Luis Ramon Rios Martinez, 26, died of a single gunshot behind the ear, police said.

The three suspects, who stole the family’s $1,000 rent money, escaped in a small red car and were last seen driving south on Beach Boulevard near Warner Avenue, Huntington Beach Police Lt. Chuck Poe said.

Details of the 10 a.m. slaying and robbery were sketchy, but police said the apparent motive was robbery.

Police were called to the residence in the 7900 block of Moonshadow Circle shortly after the shooting. They found Martinez lying in a pool of blood in the garage driveway.

Martinez was taken to Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center where he was dead on arrival, police said.

The slaying occurred during the robbery, police said.

One man knocked on the front door and said he was delivering a package. Once he was allowed inside by three unidentified women, the two other men forced their way through the door brandishing handguns.

In the next few minutes, Martinez pulled up to the driveway on his motorcycle and wheeled the cycle into the garage, Sgt. William Van Cleve said. As he walked to the garage door connected to the condominium, one of the men shot him.

“It was a sudden, unexpected confrontation,” Van Cleve said.

The three, described as Latinos in their mid-20s, then fled from the garage and jumped into the getaway car, police said.

“They brought enough people with them to take care of business,” Van Cleve said. “They were waving guns.”

Neighbors in the quiet cul-de-sac of condominiums said they didn’t hear a shot.

After police arrived, Jerry Braband, 29, said he could hear screaming, one young woman’s voice crying out, “Oh no, he might die in the hospital.”

He said Martinez lived at the residence with a middle-aged woman, a teen-age girl and a young boy.

Apparently Martinez and the family had moved into the condominium recently, Braband said. Other neighbors in the block said they knew little about the family.

“They were just a normal family,” Braband said. “It’s sad and frightening.”

Police would not identify the three women in the residence at the time of the slaying or explain their relationship to Martinez.