3 found fatally shot in Burbank

Two men and a woman were fatally shot in a Burbank neighborhood late Thursday afternoon, including the suspected shooter, and another man was hospitalized in serious condition, authorities said.

Police Chief Tim Stehr called the shootings a double murder and suicide.

“It appears to be some type of neighbor dispute. It’s possible that some of them were related. . . . It appears that they were all related to that apartment complex,” Stehr said.

One of the dead is believed to be the father of the survivor and was described by witnesses as the complex’s manager.

Police found a handgun next to the body of the man they believe to be the shooter, officials said.

One body still lay on the sidewalk in front of the apartment complex.

The surviving victim was taken to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank and was in surgery with injuries that were not life-threatening.

He was listed in serious condition, said hospital spokesman Dan Boyle.

Neighbors identified him as Oshin Sarhadian.

Police received 911 calls of an “active shooter” at an apartment building at 612 E. Cypress Ave. at 5:25 p.m., authorities said. Officers were on the scene within three minutes.

Jennifer Jolly, 30, who lives next to the apartment complex where the shootings occurred, said she heard six gunshots, then a pause.

Jolly then heard a woman screaming, “Oh my god, oh my god,” and then more gunshots. Then it was silent.

She later heard another woman running down the street, screaming, “Call the police!”

Responding officers heard shots as they arrived, as did 911 operators when neighbors reported the shootings.

Police dragged out the victim identified as the apartment complex’s manager, leaving streaks of blood on the apartment building’s stairs.

The survivor, Sarhadian, ran through the apartment building and jumped out a window to safety, police said.

Jolly said she was shocked by the shootings.

“We’ve never had any problems,” said Jolly, who has lived in the neighborhood for about three years.

“It’s very unusual for Burbank. It’s a very quiet neighborhood up here,” said Stehr, a 28-year department veteran who was promoted to police chief Aug. 1.

Vanessa Born, 25, said she mistook the gunshots as fireworks, then heard a woman screaming, “Call the police!”

“This is, like, random,” said Born, who has lived in the area for four years.

“Never in my life has this happened. This is very shocking and very surreal.”

Born said the neighborhood was the type where residents would feel comfortable jogging at 2 in the morning.

The middle-class neighborhood of mostly apartments and condominiums near Ralph Emerson Elementary School lies just east of Burbank Town Center, a shopping complex that includes an IKEA furniture store, a Macy’s and a 14-screen AMC Theater.

Stehr said the last time a double murder happened in Burbank was in the 1980s.The city had only one homicide in 2006 and three in 2005, according to statistics on file with the FBI. Before Thursday, the city had only one homicide this year.

No officers fired their weapons, said Burbank Police Sgt. Matt Ferguson.

Police said a dispute earlier in the day may have presaged the shootings.

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charles.ornstein@latimes.com

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Times staff writers Andrew Blankstein and Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report.