4 Shot to Death in 2 Separate Incidents in Quiet Playa del Rey

Four people were shot to death in two separate incidents in the usually quiet beach town of Playa del Rey, authorities said today.

A young couple in a parked car at Dockweiler State Beach were shot and killed by at least two muggers during a bungled robbery, police said. The woman, 24, was shot repeatedly in the upper torso. She was pronounced dead at the scene late Monday, Lt. Ross Moen said.

Her boyfriend, 25, managed to drive their car about 600 feet onto a service road before he collapsed from gunshot wounds to his chest and the car went up an embankment, Moen said. The victim later died at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

In the second incident, a man shot and killed an acquaintance he believed had burglarized his home and then committed suicide early today at his Playa del Rey apartment, authorities said. Witnesses told police that the two men had been arguing at the Pershing Drive apartment when the resident shot the other man in the chest about 1 a.m., Moen said.

The gunman, 43, then turned the weapon on himself, firing a single shot into his head, Moen said. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene. Several people witnessed the lengthy argument that ended in gunfire, Moen said.

Police were withholding the identities of all four victims pending notification of their relatives.