Slain El Toro Man May Have Been Mistaken for Agent

A man found fatally shot at the World Trade Center in downtown Los Angeles has been identified as a real estate specialist for the federal government who worked in the office tower and lived in El Toro.

Gilbert Wesley Luker, 51, an employee of the General Services Administration, was slumped over the steering wheel of his blue Chevrolet Corsica when he was discovered at 3:10 p.m. Monday by a federal drug agent whose car was nearby in the parking garage.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the GSA and other federal agencies have offices in the 10-story building on south Figueroa Street near 3rd Street.

Federal officials were concerned that Luker may have been killed by someone who mistook him for a drug agent, said DEA spokesman Ralph Lochridge, but a Los Angeles police detective said no motive has been established.

No one had been found who witnessed the shooting, even though the garage appeared to be well traveled, said Detective Addison Arce of the LAPD’s major crimes unit. Luker had been shot “numerous” times and was dead on arrival at the Hospital of the Good Samaritan, Arce said. It did not appear that there had been a robbery, he said.

Mary Fillipini, a San Francisco-based spokeswoman for GSA’s western region, said Luker had worked for the agency 11 months. He apparently was returning to his office from the field when he was shot, she said.

Herb Zolman, who operates a delivery service in the World Trade Center, said having the drug agents in the building always disconcerted him because they are often seen transferring weapons and ammunition from the trunks of their cars.

An employee, he said, recently found a bullet on the floor of the garage.

“It’s kind of scary,” Zolman said. “It’s kind of a dangerous situation.”