Man Is Killed by Police in Traffic Stop Gone Awry

Los Angeles police officers fatally shot a man in the parking lot of Victory Plaza on Friday, the same shopping center where a Brinks armored car guard was killed and a second wounded Monday in an armed robbery, police said.

Officers said the man shouted that he had a gun and reached into his clothing as if to produce one, but no weapon was found.

The name of the man, who was described only as a Latino, was not released. He was taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, where he died shortly after 3:45 p.m., a nursing supervisor said.

The shooting in the 13000 block of Victory Boulevard occurred about 200 feet from Albertson’s Supermarket, where two masked gunmen fired on Brinks guards who were making a delivery Monday evening to the Bank of America branch inside the market. One guard was killed.

The pair and a possible getaway driver left the scene in a stolen van. Although they are being sought, police said there was no apparent connection between the two shootings.

In what was to be a routine traffic stop Friday, LAPD Valley Traffic Division officers attempted to pull a car over in the shopping center parking lot, Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Lt. Horace Frank said.

The parking lot was filled with vehicles at the time of the incident, which started about 2:50 p.m., witnesses said.

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The driver shouted at officers that they “would have to shoot” him, Frank said.

Police then called for backup, but the man got out of his car, a black Mazda, and started yelling that he had a gun.

When the man reached under his shirt as if to grab a weapon, officers fearing for their lives began shooting, police said. At least two officers fired, but it appeared no bystanders were endangered, Frank said. The names of the officers who fired were not immediately available, he said.

The LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division is conducting an investigation, as it does in all officer-involved shootings, police said. Frank said police did not know if the shooting could be described as a “suicide by cop” incident, and could not comment on the victim’s possible mental state.

Jack Zeytonian, 38, who owns Sunrise Jewelers at Victory Plaza, was in his store during the shooting and said he heard five to seven gunshots.

“I heard a small caliber pop-pop-pop,” said Zeytonian, who added he has not felt safe since the shooting of the Brinks guards earlier in the week. Zeytonian’s brother, Karo, 44, was shot to death in December by robbers at his own jewelry store in Northridge.

“Nothing is getting better, and it seems it’s getting worse and worse,” Zeytonian said. “I don’t feel safe at all. I always watch my back when I’m leaving here, and not just here, but everywhere.”