Sun Valley Man Killed in Burbank Shooting

A 32-year-old Sun Valley man was shot to death Wednesday morning as he waited for a car pool of friends to take him to work in Valencia, police said.

Carlos Alfredo Aguilar, whose occupation was not immediately known, was shot once in the upper torso at 6:12 a.m. and was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later at St. Joseph’s Medical Center.

It was unclear whether the shooting was gang-related, but gangs have been active in the past in the area where Aguilar was shot, said Police Lt. Joseph Valento.

Authorities said a large blue vehicle pulled up to Aguilar’s car in the 1600 block of Grismer Avenue, a high-density residential street lined with apartment buildings and single-family homes.

Aguilar talked briefly to the person inside the vehicle and was shot with a handgun as he tried to walk away, police said.

Police had no suspects in custody Wednesday.

Neighboring residents and business operators acknowledged a past crime problem in the area, but said they believed the situation had been improving lately.

“Once in awhile, you have a robbery or a car theft. But on the whole it’s a very calm area,” said Ervant Demirchyan, manager of a nearby gas station.

“There are police all around the clock working here. It’s very unbelievable,” he said of the shooting.

It was the sixth homicide in Burbank this year.