Navy Sailor on Leave From Iraq Is Killed in Shooting

A U.S. Navy sailor on leave from a tour of duty in Iraq was killed in a shooting Saturday evening that also left his brother, his pregnant wife and their unborn baby wounded.

Osiel Hipolito, 20, was shopping with his wife and brother in a strip mall in the 15200 block of South Atlantic Avenue, near Compton, when two people believed to be gang members approached and assaulted Hipolito, said Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Gage.

“He goes to defend himself and one of the gang members draws a gun and begins shooting at the group,” Gage said.

The victims were taken to a local hospital where Hipolito was pronounced dead.

The baby, a girl, was delivered prematurely with a wound to her leg; Hipolito’s brother and wife were in stable condition, he said.

Hipolito, who had been a police explorer at the Compton sheriff’s station before he joined the Navy in 2003, was assigned to the amphibious assault ship Germantown, currently docked in San Diego, Gage said.