Man Fending Off Robbers Kills Fiancee

An off-duty Monterey Park reserve police officer accidentally shot and killed his fiancee while trying to fend off robbers in the parking garage of a North Hollywood movie theater Sunday night, police said.

Louis Roldan, 45, of Los Angeles, a veteran reserve officer for the San Gabriel Valley department, fatally shot his girlfriend of 12 years, Hilda Blackburn, 47, of North Hollywood, in a burst of gunfire directed at two men who attacked the couple as they were getting into their car outside the Century 7 Theaters on Victory Boulevard, Los Angeles Police Detective Mike Coffey said Monday.

During the attack, Roldan, who has won several awards for marksmanship, grabbed a gun from his car and fired five or six shots in quick succession, police said. One bullet hit Blackburn in the chest. She died on the floor of the parking garage before paramedics arrived, police said.

Another bullet hit one of the alleged attackers--Bryant Jerome Clark, 18, of North Hollywood--in the right leg. He was arrested and was hospitalized at the AMI Medical Center of North Hollywood, where he was listed in stable condition.

Police identified the other suspect as Leon Walls, 19, also known as Leon Hill, of Canoga Park. The search for him continued late Monday.

Police said they will ask prosecutors to pursue murder charges against both suspects.

Roldan and Blackburn were getting into their car at about 10:50 p.m. when two men wearing Halloween masks walked up behind them, Coffey said. The couple turned and their attackers hit them in the face with unknown objects. Roldan and Blackburn were knocked to the ground and the two men tried to grab Blackburn’s purse, Coffey said.

In the confusion, Roldan was able to get to his car and grab the gun.

Monterey Park Police Lt. Rick Tretter said Roldan has been a reserve officer for the department for about 20 years and was authorized to carry a gun. As a reserve officer he was required to work at least two shifts a month.

On Monday, a dozen roses that Roldan sent Blackburn for Valentine’s Day sat on a living room table as Blackburn’s only son, Chuck, 20, remembered a mother who was always encouraging, always smiling, always trying to make people happy.

In a way, he said, he was glad his mother--who worked in the human resources department of a Northridge mail-order company--was killed accidentally, rather than at the hands of robbers.

And as he struggled to overcome his grief, Blackburn sought to offer comfort to the man he always wanted his mother to marry. He said he understood that Roldan did what he thought was right, that there was no sense in second-guessing his decision to fire the gun.

“I feel no resentment. I blame no one,” he said. “I want to make sure he feels at peace. I feel bad and I can just imagine how he feels.”

Roldan, who family members said was so distraught that he was unable to speak, was under sedation Monday at his Los Angeles home after being treated for a broken nose. His mother, Lillian Roldan, described her son and Blackburn as an inseparable couple.

“Where one went, the other went,” she said. “She was like one of the family.”

Chuck Blackburn said his mother and Roldan were introduced by a mutual friend. Although they dated almost exclusively during that time, Chuck Blackburn said his mother wanted to delay getting married because she liked the freedom of being single.

Even so, the two had talked in recent months about getting married.

No date had been set.