Gunman Kills LAPD Chief’s Granddaughter

The granddaughter of Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks was fatally shot Sunday, one week short of her 21st birthday.

Lori Gonzalez was shot multiple times at about 10:15 p.m. as she and a male companion prepared to pull out of the parking lot of a Popeyes chicken restaurant on La Brea Avenue, a mile south of the Santa Monica Freeway, police said Monday.

Gonzalez, a student at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, was visiting her mother in Los Angeles, her father said in an interview.

Investigators said they do not believe Gonzalez was the intended victim of the gunman, who approached the passenger side of her car and fired. They theorize that Gonzalez’s companion in the passenger seat, who ducked as several bullets struck her, was the target. He was not harmed, and police would not identify him.

According to sources, Gonzalez was a casual acquaintance of the man, who has had previous brushes with the law. Police said he was questioned and released and is not a suspect.

“It’s clear to us she wasn’t the target and there is no nexus to the chief of police,” said Cmdr. David Kalish, a department spokesman. “She was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Kalish had spoken to Parks’ wife, Bobbie, and said the family was devastated by the news.

“The family is a very loving, very close family,” Kalish said. “It is a very difficult time for the Parks family.”

Parks and his wife have four children and several grandchildren.

Parks was not available for comment Monday. He was headed home from the East Coast, where he was to meet this week with authorities to discuss the federal civil rights lawsuit against the LAPD.

Police released few details about Gonzalez beyond saying she was a beautician.

Her father, Joe Gonzalez, described her as “wonderful with people and full of life.”

He said he and Lori’s mother divorced 18 years ago and shared custody of their daughter, who graduated from Redondo Union High School. Two years ago, Lori moved in with her father and his family in Mission Viejo. There she studied English at Saddleback and pursued her interest in creative writing and poetry.

Lori Gonzalez also worked as a clerk with Sav-On Drugs and an operator with Pacific Bell.

In the interview, her father marveled at the young woman’s stamina, recalling how she found time to graduate from beauty school and to remain active at Coast Hills Community Church, where she taught Sunday School to third-, fourth- and fifth-graders.

He said she frequently returned to Los Angeles to visit her mother and other family members. Joe Gonzalez, who spent Monday evening at his former in-laws’ home, said he knew nothing of the circumstances surrounding his daughter’s death other than what LAPD investigators had disclosed.

Lori “was a very loving sister to three brothers and a sister,” her father said. “She also was wonderful to others. As part of our church ministry, she recently went to Tijuana to help build houses for the poor there. She was sensitive, loving and hard-working.

“It is a terrible thing to lose a child,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve never imagined it.”

Mayor Richard Riordan, who has lost two children, issued a statement saying he was “deeply saddened by the tragic death of Lori, the granddaughter of Police Chief and Mrs. Parks.”

“Our prayers and the prayers of all Angelenos are with the Parks family,” he said.

Gonzalez and the acquaintance, sources said, had been hanging out together Sunday and decided to get chicken at the Popeyes outlet, a popular stopping place in Los Angeles’ Jefferson Park neighborhood.

Investigators believe Gonzalez’s companion was spotted there by someone who held a grudge against him. When Gonzalez slowed in the Popeyes driveway because of heavy traffic on La Brea, the gunman had an opportunity to approach and shoot through the passenger side of the car.

The gunman fled on foot. He was described as a heavy-set African American in his 20s.

The Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits, a 24-hour drive-through well known to local residents, is on the northeast corner of La Brea Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard, across from another fast-food restaurant, a service station and several other businesses.

Popeyes Manager Juan Manuel Zepeda said there had been no trouble at the restaurant in recent years, but that management had taken steps to secure the building against robberies.

The counter at the restaurant has a protective shield with a metal change drawer and pass-through compartment that resemble the security features of a bank more than a restaurant. Zepeda said the 1 1/2-inch thick bulletproof glass was added about two years ago.

“It used to be kind of rough,” he said. “It’s been two years; nothing has been happening over here.”

Zepeda arrived at work at 4 a.m. Monday to find La Brea Avenue shut down by police and detectives combing the area for clues. “They told me I had to wait in my car,” Zepeda said.

But after Zepeda complained that he had paperwork to do, police allowed him to enter the restaurant through the back door. By noon, the restaurant was open for business. For the most part, patrons were unaware of the slaying the night before as their cars crunched over shards of glass swept into the gutter along the drive-through lane.

Elestine Porche was horrified to learn of the slaying as she and her daughter used the drive-through window.

She was saddened, as well, by the slaying two blocks away the day before of philanthropist Albert Patton, who was killed in what police believe was a home invasion robbery.

But she defended her neighborhood.

“There’s nothing wrong with the neighborhood,” Porche said. “The neighborhood is fine. But there are a few people who are not.”

Family members said funeral services for Lori Gonzalez will be at the First AME Church later this week.

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Times staff writer Kenneth R. Weiss contributed to this story.