Gunman Killed, 5 Wounded in Shootout at Bingo Game : Crime: A security guard shoots one of three would-be robbers at a Culver City fund-raiser. Two others flee, firing into crowd of 200.

Three would-be robbers armed with shotguns invaded a bingo parlor in Culver City and engaged in a gun battle with a security guard that left one suspect dead and five other people wounded, Los Angeles police said Friday.

The suspect who was killed--Ernest Gaines Jr., 33, of Los Angeles--was holding a cashier at gunpoint when a plainclothes security guard at the Buckingham Heights Bingo Parlor on Slauson Avenue saw Gaines and opened fire, investigators said.

The other suspects fled, firing shots that wounded five of about 200 customers at the fund-raising event for the Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles, according to Culver City Police Sgt. Dean Williams.

“Everybody panicked and bolted,” said Dick Arbenz, executive director of the local Big Brothers chapter. He said that in addition to the five customers wounded by gunfire, six others suffered minor injuries as they ducked under the bingo tables.

“Some fell, some twisted their ankles,” Williams said.

Of the customers who suffered gunshot wounds, two were later reported to be in serious condition and three were released after treatment.

Except for Gaines, none of the wounded and injured was identified.

A Special Weapons and Tactics team from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department cordoned off the area after the shooting--which occurred about 7:40 p.m. Thursday--but the men were not found. Culver City police declined to say whether they had identified the gunmen.