Transient Fatally Shot in Argument; Man Held
An argument in front of a Panorama City apartment building ended in the shooting death of one transient and the arrest of another, Los Angeles police reported Monday.
Responding to a call, officers went to the 14600 block of Plummer Street at 10 p.m. Sunday and found Martin H. Mendez, 25, dead of a shotgun blast to the chest, police said.
Detectives learned that Mendez was one of several men who were drinking on the street when an argument erupted. One man left the group and returned with a shotgun, which he fired at Mendez without saying a word, Detective James Vojtecky said.
Police began searching for the suspect and arrested Rafael Cabrera Guzman, 26, shortly after midnight when he was discovered asleep in the car he lives in.
Guzman was being held without bail at the Van Nuys Jail on suspicion of murder.
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