Suspect in String of Robberies Killed in Shootout With Police

A suspected robber believed responsible for a string of robberies of convenience stores on the Westside and in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills was killed Saturday in a shootout with police, authorities said.

The unidentified suspect was shot after he fired at three Los Angeles police officers while he hid beneath a thick layer of ivy in the 4500 block of South 3rd Avenue in Southwest Los Angeles, police said.

The shooting occurred shortly after the suspect apparently robbed two convenience stores in Torrance, officers said.

Detectives from Los Angeles and Beverly Hills who have been investigating the series of robberies for the past month had gone to the suspect’s neighborhood after an informant gave them his name Friday, said Lt. William Hall of the Los Angeles Police Department.

When investigators spotted the man carrying a plastic bag they believed contained money from the Torrance robberies, they identified themselves and ordered him to stop, Hall said. But the man ran between two houses and pointed his gun at them, Hall said.

The detectives fired at the man but he escaped. Police sealed off the area and used dogs to track him to the ivy patch about 1:30 a.m., according to officers.

Police said they found a ski mask, a loaded .357 magnum revolver, a bag with $500 and cigarettes believed taken in the Torrance robberies.