Restaurant Patron Held in Slaying

An apparently mentally unstable man finished a cup of coffee at a McDonald’s restaurant in Mission Hills on Wednesday, got a gun from his car, then walked back inside and shot another customer to death for no apparent reason, Los Angeles police said.

Roger Pak, 43, calmly left the restaurant after the 6:05 a.m. shooting in the 11000 block of Sepulveda Boulevard and drove away in his car, police said. He was arrested a few minutes later at his nearby Granada Hills home after police traced the license plate number provided by employees of the restaurant.

Police identified the victim as Edward Capannelli, 60, of Van Nuys. Detectives said that he and Pak did not know each other and that no motive had been found for the killing.

Detectives said Pak’s relatives told them that in February he had been treated at a local hospital for a mental disorder but recently stopped taking prescribed medication. Investigators did not have details about the disorder or the medication.

Police said Capannelli, a GTE employee, regularly stopped at the McDonald’s for breakfast during the past five years and was regarded by employees as a friendly customer. Pak was also a regular at the restaurant in recent months but was reportedly unfriendly to employees, police said.

“The suspect and victim didn’t know each other,” Detective Al Ferrand said. “But they both went there for breakfast or coffee at about the same time each morning.”

Pak and Capannelli were sitting at nearby tables Wednesday when Pak got up and went to his car, police said. He returned with a .44-caliber handgun and shot Capannelli in the head without saying a word, police said. Capannelli died at the scene.

Police said there were few customers in the restaurant, which had just opened for the day, and no one else was hurt.

The gun used in the shooting was found in Pak’s car when he pulled up in front of his home about eight blocks from the McDonald’s and was arrested, police said. He was being held without bail on suspicion of murder at the Van Nuys Jail, where he was in the medical unit, police said.