Man, stepdaughter slain in Koreatown apartment complex

A father and his stepdaughter were shot dead and his wife was critically wounded in their Koreatown apartment during a predawn robbery Sunday, according to police and neighbors.

A suspect was apprehended and another was being sought.

The killings just west of downtown Los Angeles underscore a surge in violent crime in the area, including a series of high-profile slayings, that has heightened concern in the neighborhood.

Residents of the apartment building in the 700 block of South Harvard Avenue said they were awakened at 4:20 a.m. by an altercation downstairs. They said they heard multiple gunshots, followed by a woman screaming for an ambulance.

When Los Angeles Police Department officers arrived, a 35-year-old man was found fallen in the courtyard. Inside, police found his wife and teenage stepdaughter shot.

The father and the girl were taken to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead. The woman was in critical but stable condition, with wounds to her upper torso, LAPD spokeswoman Sandra Escalante said. Police did not release the identities of the victims.

Officers said two men reportedly entered the apartment in an apparent robbery. However, it was not clear whether the victims knew the assailants.

One suspect was taken into custody Sunday morning and police were searching for a second, but their identities and other details about them were not released.

By midday Sunday, a crowd had gathered outside the apartment building as the manager washed blood from the pavement. Shattered glass littered a driveway, where the mother had knocked out a window to call for help.

The killings come just two months after a triple homicide in the area, in which gunmen killed three patrons at a restaurant. Before this week’s deaths, LAPD statistics showed at least a 40% jump in homicides and an 11% increase in robberies in Koreatown in 2006.

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gary.polakovic@latimes.com