Details emerge about Hollywood shooting rampage
The man gunned down by police after he randomly shot at passersby during a chaotic rampage in Hollywood has been identified as 26-year-old Tyler Brehm, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said Saturday.
Meanwhile, some details emerged that may explain what motivated Friday morning’s shooting, which occurred near one of Hollywood’s busiest intersections and left a 40-year-old music executive in critical condition with neck and face wounds. A woman who identified herself as Brehm’s ex-girlfriend said she believes their recent breakup may have sparked his rampage.
Alicia Alligood, 24, told KTLA-TV that she and Brehm dated for four years before breaking up. She described Brehm as “really stressed out lately” and said he’d recently started taking pharmaceutical drugs, which she called surprising because he wasn’t one to use hard drugs.
Photos: A deadly scene in a Hollywood intersection
LAPD sources said that at about 10:19 a.m., Brehm began firing a .40-caliber handgun in the air and menacing motorists in a McDonald’s parking lot before walking toward Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street. Just south of Sunset, he fired several shots at a silver Mercedes-Benz coupe. The driver, music industry executive John Atterberry, was struck by three bullets in the neck and face.
Brehm began walking into the bustling intersection, still firing into the air and at cars. Witnesses described a frenzied scene that to some seemed surreal because they initially thought the shooting was part of a movie being filmed in the area. But once the sound of bullets striking cars filled the air, pedestrians sprinted away, dashing inside businesses and jumping over walls.
Several drivers’ car windows were shot out. Others sped off or made U-turns, trying to avoid the gun-wielding Brehm, who wore sunglasses and was dressed in dark pants and a white tank top. An onlooker in a nearby building shouted at Brehm, trying to distract him. Some of the rampage was captured in videos and photos.
The shooting ended around 10:22 a.m., when two LAPD officers, including an off-duty motorcycle officer working on a nearby movie set, confronted Brehm and ordered him to drop his gun.
The LAPD said in a statement Saturday that Brehm pointed his weapon at the motorcycle officer and that an “officer-involved shooting occurred.” Brehm was pronounced dead at the scene.
Atterberry remains in critical condition at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. One man was grazed in the thigh by a bullet and another suffered cuts when a bullet shattered a window in his car.
Police officials said Saturday that Brehm fired nearly 20 rounds before being killed, leading investigators to believe that he reloaded at least once.
LAPD officials said that Brehm was from Carlisle, Pa., and was unemployed. They said he arrived about a month ago in Hollywood, where he was subletting an apartment.
On his Facebook page, he listed conversation, knowledge, friendship, family, money, success and “things that go fast” as his interests. He changed his status from “in a relationship” to “single” on Dec. 6. Police said Saturday that Brehm had no criminal record. Police also verified that he had recently broken up with his girlfriend but did not say whether they believe the breakup led to the shooting.
On Saturday afternoon, no one answered at the Hollywood apartment where Brehm lived with Alligood. But neighbor Ermelinda Benitez confirmed that the couple moved in about a month ago. She said she didn’t know Brehm or Alligood, but she described an incident about two weeks ago in which she saw Brehm in the hallway, loudly banging on the door to his and Alligood’s unit. Benitez presumed the two were fighting and said Brehm was carrying a clear plastic bag with what appeared to be a comforter or blanket stuffed inside.
Alligood told KTLA that she and Brehm went to junior high and high school together. She called him a “humanitarian” and said he wanted to “change the world for the better.”
Photos: A deadly scene in a Hollywood intersection
dalina.castellanos@latimes.com
Times staff writer Kurt Streeter contributed to this report.
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