Laguna Robber Is Identified

Laguna Beach police have released the identity of the masked robbery suspect who died in a shootout with officers Wednesday afternoon following a botched attempt to rob a small herb shop along South Coast Highway.

Nathaniel James O’Connor, 26, was killed in a gunfire exchange with police after he walked into the Herbal Import Co. wearing a ski mask, demanded that one employee fill a paper bag with cash and shot another employee in the back.

Police said O’Connor was a Los Angeles resident most recently employed as a smog technician and construction worker. Investigators, who say they believe O’Connor acted alone, remain puzzled by his actions.

The small shop a few blocks south of Main Beach was unlikely to have much cash on hand, and is miles from the nearest freeway escape route. And it is unclear why O’Connor shot store clerk Jacques Nenijian, 26, while another employee was filling O’Connor’s bag with cash.

Nenijian, of Laguna Beach, is expected to recover fully, as is Officer Larry Bammer, 24, who was shot in the abdomen when he arrived at the scene shortly after 2 p.m.

The shootout at the small purveyor of herbal medicines, incense and smoking paraphernalia shattered the serenity in the beach town Wednesday, sending sidewalk strollers running for cover. The last time a Laguna Beach officer was shot on duty was in the 1950s, police said.