Police Issue Sketch of Suspect in Ambush Slaying of Teacher

A drawing of a suspect in the shooting death of Grant High School teacher Hal Arthur was released Friday after a witness who saw the man speeding away from the ambush scene contacted authorities this week.

Los Angeles police said the suspect is white, in his 30s with dark brown, wavy hair and a slight mustache. According to the witness’ description, the suspect is about 6 feet tall and 175 pounds. He was seen driving away from the scene of the shooting in front of Arthur’s Sherman Oaks home in a new gray or black sedan with a squarish back end and no license plates.

The description came from a person who police described as a key witness in the murder investigation, which so far has not turned up a motive or an identified suspect.

Gunned Down March 24

Arthur, 60, a longtime and well- respected teacher, was shot three times from behind at 6 a.m. March 24 as he prepared to get into his car parked in front of his home in the 13900 block of Milbank Street. He was going to work when he was shot.

Citing safety reasons, police refused to identify the witness or say from where the person saw the suspect. Police also declined to say how the witness was able to provide a complete description of the suspect.

“We have confirmed that the witness was at a place and time where the witness would have seen the suspect,” said Lt. Warren Knowles, commander of the Van Nuys Division detective bureau.

One of Arthur’s neighbors earlier reported seeing a dark sedan drive from the scene of the shooting but police had found no other witnesses.

Knowles said the witness did not call police until Sunday because of safety concerns. The drawing was not made until Thursday, when detectives went to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department artist after learning that a Los Angeles police artist would be unavailable until next week because of a large caseload.

On Friday, detectives attended the classes formerly taught by Arthur at Grant to show the drawing to students.

Few Leads in Case

Knowles said that detectives have few leads in the case and that after a week of exhaustive investigation have been unable to determine the motive behind the slaying.

“We are not zeroing in on any direction,” Knowles said. “It has been terribly frustrating. Usually, when a homicide occurs we are led in a particular direction. We don’t have that here.”

Knowles said detectives have interviewed several of Arthur’s friends and business associates and have found no record of financial problems or disputes that offer clues to his murderer. He said repeated interviews with Arthur’s family have also yielded nothing.

The drawing of the suspect appears to have eliminated any current students from involvement in the killing, Knowles said, but police will continue to look for possible suspects among the teacher’s former students.

“That has a strong potential,” Knowles said. “We do have to go back to include any former students.”

On Friday, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Arthur’s killer. Officials said the district’s teachers union, United Teachers-Los Angeles, is also offering a $5,000 reward.