Wounded Sheriff’s Employee : Dead Gunman Had Tried to Steal Car

A man who killed himself after shooting a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department civilian employee during a struggle in a Woodland Hills parking lot had attempted to steal a car from a nearby dealership shortly before the confrontation, Los Angeles police said Wednesday.

Investigators said they believe that Anthony Rotella, 21, may have seen Zalai Tibor, 30, running from the Ventura Boulevard car lot or committing another crime early Tuesday and approached him in the Taft High School parking lot to investigate.

Rotella, a community services officer, was shot twice in the head after struggling with Tibor in the school lot at Ventura Boulevard and Winnetka Avenue. Rotella, of Woodland Hills, remained in critical but stable condition Wednesday at Northridge Hospital Medical Center. Detectives have been unable to question him.

The shooting was witnessed by two California Highway Patrol officers who were driving by. One officer shot and wounded Tibor, a Hungarian immigrant who lived in North Hollywood. Tibor then fled to a nearby office building and shot himself to death after hiding in a restroom.

Tools Found

Detective Hank Petroski said that on the ground near where Rotella had been shot, investigators found several tools and part of a lock box, a device that attaches to a car window and is normally used by car dealerships to lock keys to a car that is for sale.

Investigators traced the lock box part to a car at Woodland Hills Nissan, a dealership less than a block from the shooting scene. Petroski said it appears that Tibor attempted to break into the lock box and then steal the car but for an unknown reason left. He was then apparently spotted by Rotella, who was coming out of a supermarket next to the high school.

“He may have seen Tibor running away,” Petroski said. “He went to check it out.”

Petroski said police found a car belonging to Tibor in the parking lot of the office building where Tibor killed himself after being chased by police. The gun used during the shooting also belonged to Tibor, who was wearing a holster, police said.