Painter Robbed of $1,300, Shot in Arm at Crenshaw High
A contract painter working at Crenshaw High School was robbed and shot in the arm Thursday, Los Angeles police said.
Rene Martinez, 52, was scraping a retaining wall at 50th Street and 8th Avenue on the northeast corner of the campus when two teenagers attacked him at 9:25 a.m., said Susan Cox, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Martinez was carrying $1,300 that he planned to wire to relatives in Mexico, said his boss, John Mantikas, president of San Pedro-based Southwest Coatings Inc.
Mantikas said he was driving away from the campus when Martinez’s partner, who had gone to get paint before the shooting occurred, flagged him down.
“Rene’s been shot,” Mantikas recalled being told. “I slammed on my brakes and jumped out of the truck.” Principal Isaac Hammond said the school was locked down for a little more than an hour as investigators searched unsuccessfully for the robbers.
Mantikas described Martinez as quiet and reliable.
“He didn’t fight back with them or nothing,” Mantikas said. “Why they shot him, I don’t know.”
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