Gunmen Kill Van Nuys Resident in Apartment

A Van Nuys man was shot and killed as he slept early Monday when three gunmen burst into his home, restrained his wife and shot him several times in the upper torso, Los Angeles police said.

The victim’s three young children slept through the shooting.

Leneial Sapp, 21, was pronounced dead about 4:10 a.m. at Valley Presbyterian Hospital, said Detective Stephen Fisk of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Van Nuys division.

“Right now we have this thing down as narcotics and gang-related,” Fisk said. Police do not have any suspects in custody.

The incident started about 2 a.m. when the suspects broke into an apartment on the 13500 block of Vanowen Street that Sapp shared with his wife and three sons, Fisk said.

The names of the woman and children were not released.

One of the men held the woman’s head down in a pillow and told her to stay still while at least one of the other assailants went into the bedroom and shot Sapp several times with a large-caliber handgun, Fisk said.

The children, ages 2 months, 3 years and 5 years, were sleeping in the living room and did not wake up during the shooting. Sapp’s wife was also uninjured, Fisk said.

“It looks something like a hit,” he said.