Man Found Dead After Crash Had Been Shot

A North Hollywood man found dead in his car early Monday, originally thought to have been killed in a traffic accident, was later discovered to have been shot to death, police said.

Responding to reports of a traffic accident at 2:30 a.m., Los Angeles police found the 32-year-old motorist dead in his car near the corner of Orion Avenue and Rayen Street in Sepulveda, Detective Michael Brandt said. They assumed from the man’s head injury that he died when his car struck the one in front of him.

But a coroner’s investigator arriving at the scene found a gunshot wound in the man’s upper torso, Brandt said. The motorist’s name is being withheld pending notification of relatives.