VAN NUYS : Market Owner Slain in Robbery Attempt

The owner of a market in Van Nuys was shot to death Monday morning during a robbery attempt, Los Angeles police said.

Lee Chul Kim, 49, of Northridge was shot in the Woodley Market in the 7500 block of Woodley Avenue about 9:35 a.m., Detective Phil Morritt said.

Although Kim was a Korean-American, the incident was unrelated to the riots in Los Angeles, police said. Many small business owners of Korean ancestry had complained that they were targets of violence.

Witnesses said two to four men “entered the store and waited for the owner-victim,” Morritt said, and at least one of the men shot Kim several times in the upper torso with a handgun. The men then fled in a beige station wagon.