Man Shot to Death Outside House

A 28-year-old man was killed by two shotgun blasts during an argument early Thursday in a yard outside a house, sheriff’s deputies said.

The dead man was identified as John Fernandez Beatty Jr. Details were sketchy--deputies neither knew the nature of the argument, nor if Beatty lived at the house on the 44700 block of Gadsden Avenue, where the shooting took place at 2:10 a.m., Deputy Gabe Ramirez said.

Deputies were searching for an unidentified man, who reportedly fled the scene after the shooting, Ramirez said.

The shooting took place in an older neighborhood, just south of the city’s downtown district, which has a mix of well-maintained houses and some deteriorating buildings with boarded up windows. The residence is a yellow one-story building with a chain-link fence surrounding the adjacent side yard.

Sgt. Bob Denham of the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Station said the neighborhood is not considered a high-crime area. He said the motive for the shooting was unknown.