Boy, 17, Shot Dead Outside Shop in Apparent Mistake

In what police say may have been a deadly mistake, a teenage Thousand Oaks boy was killed, allegedly by a Simi Valley store owner who apparently mistook him for a burglar.

Police said Leonard Anthony Coppola, 17, was shot once in the head with a high-caliber handgun shortly after 9 p.m. Friday in the parking lot of an automotive strip mall on the 900 block of Chambers Lane in Simi Valley.

According to police, Coppola and an unidentified friend who worked at a neighboring motorcycle and watercraft repair business arrived at the strip mall to prepare for a weekend motorcycle ride.

While the friend remained inside the store, police said, Coppola walked to the side of the mall building to unlock a chain-link gate that led to a yard shared by all four businesses at the mall.

According to statements made to investigators at the scene, the rattling apparently woke Edward Nishida Drake, who had been living at his business, E.N.B. Automotive, for the past several months.

Believing a burglar was trying to enter the property, the 50-year-old Drake picked up his gun, which investigators believe was a .44 caliber, went out a side door and fired one shot, which struck Coppola in the lower head, according to a police statement.

“It appears as if the victim was trying to open the gate to a common yard when he was shot,” said Sgt. Robert Gardner of the Simi Valley Police Department. “We’re still not sure of what happened or if anything was said between the two before the shooting.”

Coppola was taken to Simi Valley Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead about an hour later. Drake, who called police after the shooting, was arrested without incident and booked into Ventura County Jail on charges of homicide. He remained there late Saturday in lieu of $255,000 bail.

Most of the stores neighboring Drake’s remained closed Saturday and there was little evidence, other than small blood spots, that hinted at the previous night’s shooting.

A nearby mechanic who asked not to be identified labeled the shooting a “tragedy,” adding that Drake’s violent reaction and subsequent arrest have left him puzzled.

“He’s a nice guy and I don’t know why all this happened,” the man said. “I feel real bad for him and the boy’s family.”

Coppola’s shocked mother and stepfather meanwhile spent Saturday meeting with directors of the Pierce Brothers’ Valley Oaks Mortuary in Westlake Village, planning their son’s funeral and choosing a burial plot. They declined to speak to a reporter.

Police said that the quarter-mile stretch of Chambers Road on which the repair shop is located had a history of petty thefts, but were unsure whether Drake had ever been the victim of a burglary.

“It’s a strange incident,” Sgt. Gardner said. “We’re still waiting to get all the information and find out exactly what happened.”

Gardner expects that detectives will complete their investigation by Monday. Drake is tentatively scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.