Two Men Shot to Death in Stalled Car

In an apparent gang-related slaying, two young men pulled up alongside a car stalled near the Santa Monica Freeway and Crenshaw Boulevard and opened fire on the stalled vehicle early Sunday, killing two of three men in it, Los Angeles police said.

Detectives identified the victims as the stalled car’s driver, Aaron Johnson, 17, and front-seat passenger Larry Logan, 23. A 26-year-old man in the backseat was unharmed in the 3:25 a.m. shooting on 10th Avenue, between West 25th Street and Adams Boulevard.

Johnson’s 1984 Toyota Tercel apparently stalled at the intersection, Det. Steve Heglar said. While Johnson tried to restart the engine, two young men in a white Honda Accord or Civic stopped behind the vehicle, then pulled alongside it and uttered a gang challenge to Johnson and his friends. Without waiting for a response, one of the men fired two shots into Johnson’s car before speeding off.

The mortally wounded Johnson was finally able to restart the car, which traveled about 300 feet before crashing into a lamp post and a retaining wall, Heglar said.

Johnson and Logan were pronounced dead at the scene.