A Deadly First Fishing Trip : Crime: Man killed in Big Bear was a mechanic and plumber from Moscow who had been living with his brothers. He was slain in his sleep on his first angling excursion.

Their families had been next-door neighbors and close friends in Armenia, and the Gumuryan brothers thought it would be a relaxing break to take Armen Shakhkaramyan to Big Bear on a fishing trip.

“He didn’t even have a chance to say any last words,” Shakhkaramyan’s grieving brother, Sarkis, said Thursday, struggling to make sense of his brother’s slaying. “I just don’t understand. They gave them the money, and they shot them anyway. Armen was asleep, and then he was dead.”

Armen Shakhkaramyan, 47, a plumber and mechanic from Moscow, was killed Wednesday and one of his friends was wounded when a gunman fired into their station wagon after robbing two of the four men who had gone to Big Bear Lake together, authorities said.

Shakhkaramyan and his three friends went to the picturesque resort to fish and had parked their station wagon along the lake shore, waiting for sunrise, when they were assaulted, deputies said.

Sarkis Aylozlan, 28, of North Hollywood was shot in the torso and was listed in good condition Thursday at Loma Linda University Medical Center. Khachic Gumuryan, 28, and his brother, Nazar Gumuryan, 36, of Van Nuys, were unhurt in the attack, San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies said.

Khachic Gumuryan said Shakhkaramyan and Aylozlan were asleep in the station wagon when they were attacked by two assailants.

Investigators said Thursday that they are seeking three men who were given a ride down the mountain after crashing a white Buick that was used in the robbery and shooting.

“Homicide detectives have found someone who gave three occupants of the suspect vehicle a ride down the hill into the San Bernardino area,” said Deputy Laurie Savage, a San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokeswoman.

She said about 30 investigators are working around the clock and will keep going until “they either run out of leads or make an arrest.”

Sarkis Shakhkaramyan of Montebello said his brother has a wife and two teen-age children in Moscow, and the family plans to ship his body to Russia for burial.

Another brother, Sogomon Shakhkaramyan of North Hollywood, said only the killer can say why his brother was shot.

“How can I answer his children?” Sogomon said. “Who is going to take care of them now?”

Armen Shakhkaramyan, a Russian citizen who had been in the country about a year, divided his time between his two brothers’ homes, relatives said.

He was making his first fishing trip with the Gumuryan brothers, who are avid fishermen, when he was killed, Sogomon Shakhkaramyan said.

The four men left Tuesday night, parked and set up a camp where they barbecued steak and ate tomatoes and cheese, Sogomon Shakhkaramyan said.

When they had no luck fishing, they went back to their station wagon to sleep about 11:30 p.m., he said. They had planned to get up early to fish before returning to Los Angeles about 8 a.m., he said.

Khachic Gumuryan said a man came to the car between 4 and 4:30 a.m. and put a gun to his brother Nazar’s head, demanding his wallet. His brother handed over his wallet, which had no money in it, and the gunman left, Gumuryan said.

But the gunman returned a few seconds later and fired into the car, shooting out the window next to Gumuryan, who said he then offered the assailant his wallet. But the gunman did not take the wallet and fired into the car again, Gumuryan said.

Aylozlan then shouted that his leg was hurt, and Gumuryan shouted, “Armen, Armen!” There was no answer, and they thought Shakhkaramyan was still asleep, Gumuryan said. But they then saw blood in the corner of Armen Shakhkaramyan’s mouth.

After summoning police, Gumuryan returned to the scene with officers who told him that Shakhkaramyan was dead.

Gumuryan said he likes the United States. But he can’t sleep now. “Every time I’m about to sleep, I think somebody is going to shoot me,” he said.

After blasting a hole in one side of the station wagon, the gunman fled, Deputy Savage said. The California Highway Patrol reported the crash of the assailants’ car shortly afterward, about five miles from the shooting on a winding stretch of California 18 that leads to Green Valley Lake. The vehicle, a white Buick registered to a Fontana man, was found abandoned with one of the victims’ wallets inside, she said.

“He was the kindest man,” said Armen Shakhkaramyan’s niece Tamara, 18. “He wouldn’t harm anybody. He would try to help everybody. If someone needed help with their car, he would run.”

Big Bear residents had trouble Thursday recalling the last homicide in their community. One woman said she seemed to remember one about six years ago, but she wasn’t sure.

“Stuff like this doesn’t happen in Big Bear,” said Cliff Fowler, owner of Big Bear Sporting Goods. “We watch the evening news and say, ‘Aren’t we lucky?’ ”

At the Alpine Restaurant on Big Bear Boulevard, waitress Donna Douglas said the robbery and murder had patrons worried that “the same kind of violence that’s down the hill is coming up to Big Bear.”

But others are convinced that the suspects are not locals who live year-round in the resort area.

“The news hasn’t said anything about this being done by people from down the hill,” said a woman at Big Bear Marina who requested anonymity. “It’s upsetting that this could happen in a community as safe as this is, but it hasn’t shattered our tranquillity. This is a freak accident up here.”

Fowler said Big Bear residents know they “live in God’s country,” where the peaceful lifestyle can sometimes be taken for granted.

The shooting, which came just weeks before the summer tourist season, was similar to one May 16 in the San Jacinto Mountains near Idyllwild that claimed the life of a woman visiting from Germany. Her husband was seriously injured by assailants after the couple pulled over at a scenic turnout. Authorities said the motive was robbery.

Times staff writer Josh Meyer contributed to this story.