Officials Identify Man Slain at Traffic Light

The coroner’s office released the identity Monday of a Van Nuys man who was looking for a wedding reception near Koreatown when he was mistaken for a gang member and killed in a shooting.

Julio Cesar Lopez, 20, was shot just after 9 p.m. Saturday at Mariposa Avenue and Pico Boulevard, said Scott Carrier, a coroner’s office spokesman.

Lopez was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead, he said.

The victim, who was not in a gang, was in his car at a stoplight when a black Toyota or Nissan pickup pulled alongside him, Los Angeles Police Det. Andy Chicoria said.

Two men, believed to be in their 20s, shouted to him and asked what gang he belonged to before firing several rounds into the car, Chicoria said.

Lopez’s shaved head and baggy clothes may have sealed his fate, Chicoria said.

“He was dressed in the way kids are dressed these days,” he said. “If you dress like a gangster and you go down the street in a gang neighborhood, you’re going to have problems.”