2 Men Critical After Unrelated Shootings

Two men shot in unrelated incidents were hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said Monday.

The first shooting occurred at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday in the 3200 block of Oakshire Drive in Studio City, said Det. Mike Coffey of the Los Angeles Police Department’s North Hollywood station.

In that incident, three men walking out of a residence were confronted by two armed assailants who demanded the victims’ personal property, Coffey said. One of the victims allegedly began fighting with the two robbers and was shot in the upper torso.

The two assailants, described only as white men, fled in a 1990-96 red or burgundy Toyota truck, Coffey said.

The injured victim’s name was not released to protect his safety, Coffey said. He was described only as a 28-year-old man.

Coffey said the assailants in that shooting were believed to be the same ones who robbed two other men about 15 minutes earlier nearby in the 10600 block of Whipple Street. The victims were robbed of about $100 but no one was injured, police said.

The second shooting occurred about an hour later in the 6700 block of Whitsett Avenue in North Hollywood, Coffey said.

That incident began when Miguel Perez, 22, and a second, unidentified man got in a fight with Antonio Chacon, 44, according to Coffey.

It wasn’t known what sparked the fight.

At one point Perez and the other man smashed Chacon’s car windshield, prompting Chacon to fire at them from inside his car, authorities said. Perez was struck in the upper torso.

Chacon went to a nearby phone and called the police, stating he had just shot a person, Coffey said.

He was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, according to authorities. Other charges could be added after the case is reviewed by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, authorities said.