3 Family Members Shot to Death in Attacks in 2 States

Police in two states are coordinating murder investigations after a man described as a film producer and his son were shot to death at a Culver City intersection and the producer’s father was found gunned down in his Arizona home the next day.

Police on Saturday described the death of Roland Emr, 45, and his son, Rodger, 20, as a “business-related” murder. The two were shot at the intersection of Sepulveda Boulevard and Slauson Avenue shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday. The next day, Roland Emr’s father, Arthur, was found shot to death, police officials in both states said.

Though Culver City police gave out few details, citing the “sensitive nature” of the case, Detective Hank Davies said the local attack “was an intentional shooting. All we can say is that it was business-related.”

Police in Arizona declined to comment on a motive in the elder Emr’s death, or to say if there is a link to the two local deaths. It was those slayings that prompted Culver City police to ask authorities in Paradise Valley, Ariz., to check on Arthur Emr, Paradise Valley police said.

When Arizona authorities arrived at the man’s home they found him in an office, dead from several gunshot wounds to the head.

Davies, calling Emr a movie producer, said police believed that whatever led to the local shootings stemmed from Emr’s dealings in the film business. He also said police have received information indicating that Emr has been “involved with what some people have called cons and scams.” Police do not believe that those disputes led to the slayings.

Reports published three years ago in an Arizona newspaper said that Emr was the target of an FBI probe into allegations that he used bogus certificates of deposit to guarantee financing for fraudulent movie deals.

Emr sued for libel and slander. A U.S. District Court judge later dropped the newspaper from the suit. An FBI spokesman could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Emr and his son were shot Thursday as they were waiting for a traffic light to change. The occupants of another car pulled up beside them, fired several rounds into their Lincoln Continental and sped off, said Sgt. Manuel Ariza.

Without specifying which man was driving, Ariza said the driver slumped over the steering wheel and the car erratically rolled westbound on Slauson.

When the car reached Jefferson, a motorcycle officer spotted the meandering vehicle and the two wounded men, said Ariza. “He . . . ran alongside the car, jumped in through the open driver’s window and forced the car to stop.”

One man was taken to Brotman Medical Center and the other to Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital. Both were pronounced dead on arrival.

Two other passengers in the car were not injured.