1 Killed, 2 Wounded in Family Dispute

A man embroiled in a dispute over his pending divorce allegedly shot and killed his estranged wife’s uncle and wounded her father and a family friend, police reported Tuesday.

Khachatur Tonoyan, 23, of Reseda is being sought after the deadly confrontation Monday night.

According to witnesses, Tonoyan and his father agreed to meet Telman Babayan, 48, Tonoyan’s father-in-law, to discuss the divorce.

Babayan, who was accompanied by a relative and two friends, told police that he asked the younger Tonoyan to stop harassing his daughter.

The discussion escalated into an argument, then pushing and shoving, mainly involving Tonoyan and Babayan, said Los Angeles Police Detective Duane Burris.

During the scuffle, Tonoyan allegedly shot and killed Khatchatour Abouchian, 47, of Los Angeles. Wounded were Akop Topachikyan, 50, of Los Angeles, who was shot in the chest. He remains in critical but stable condition. Babayan, of Northridge, was shot in the right hand and was treated and released. All the men were taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, police said.

Tonoyan and his father fled after the 10 p.m. shooting in the parking lot at 20141 Sherman Way in Canoga Park, police said.

In a second incident in Encino, police said an Encino man was in critical condition Tuesday after he was shot several times in his home by a longtime friend.

Arthur Robert Chabala allegedly shot his friend, Charles Vidaurrazaga, 30, in a crime with no clear motive, police said. Chabala, who is at large, lived in a car after the Northridge earthquake, and Vidaurrazaga allowed him to use his apartment to wash.

Vidaurrazaga told police that he let Chabala into his studio apartment on the 17200 block of Burbank Boulevard about 4 a.m. Tuesday. Vidaurrazaga went back to sleep while Chabala watched television for the next 2 1/2 hours.

“I kind of remember waking up and turning off the TV,” Vidaurrazaga told police from his hospital bed at Northridge Hospital Medical Center. “The next thing I remember was waking up when I was shot in the face.”

After a brief struggle, Chabala escaped through the sliding glass door.

“He (Chabala) never said a word when he shot him or during the brief struggle,” said Los Angeles Police Detective Dave Steinbacher.

Police do not have a motive in either shooting.