3 San Fernando Residents Die in Unrelated Killings

Los Angeles police this morning were attempting to identify killers in the unrelated deaths of three San Fernando residents, including a Van Nuys man who, after being shot outside a supermarket, drove himself 2 1/2 miles to a hospital before dying.

There were no suspects in any of the slayings and the exact motive for each attack was not known, detectives said.

Clarage R. Kingsmore, 61, of Van Nuys died at 12:15 a.m. today at Valley Presbyterian Hospital of a gunshot wound to his upper body, police said.

Kingsmore, a manager at a Bendix Corp. office in Sylmar for 32 years, drove himself to the hospital about 9 p.m. Wednesday and told members of the staff that he had been shot outside the Hughes Market at 14440 Burbank Blvd., Detective James Vojtecky said.

“He was coming out of the store. He had a nice car; it could have been an attempted robbery,” Vojtecky said. “But we don’t know the motive.”

Police were also looking for a suspect in the fatal shooting of a 36-year-old Sun Valley man about 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Los Amigos Bar at 11500 San Fernando Road in Sylmar.

Foothill detectives were also looking for the killer of John Pedraza, 34, of San Fernando, who died Wednesday, three days after he was stabbed repeatedly during a confrontation outside a Mission Hills nightclub.

Pedraza, a young grandfather who worked at the General Motors plant in Van Nuys, was found stabbed at 2 a.m. Sunday in the parking lot outside the LGT Vegas Club at 11000 Sepulveda Blvd., Lt. Bernard D. Conine said.

Investigators have no suspects in the case, Conine said.