LAPD seeks suspect in monthlong series of violent crimes
Los Angeles police are searching for a man suspected in a monthlong series of violent crimes across the region, including a shooting last week in Panorama City that left one man dead and a carjacking last week that launched a wild pursuit and standoff.
Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department’s elite Robbery-Homicide Division have worked around the clock to find Artyom Gasparyan, 32, who investigators believe is responsible for crimes including robbery, carjacking and attempted murder since Dec. 6. The crimes began in northeast Los Angeles, police said, but also occurred in Burbank, West Hollywood and Carson.
Investigators have also linked Gasparyan to the police pursuit Friday that began on the 105 Freeway in Carson and ended with a standoff in Long Beach, where a man suspected of being Gasparyan’s accomplice fled in a stolen vehicle.
That accomplice, identified by the LAPD as Daniel Ramirez, was taken into custody after police say he ran into a Long Beach home, shot two men, stabbed another and then turned the gun on himself. Ramirez was critically wounded in the head and died just before 6 p.m. Saturday, the LAPD said.
Police consider Gasparyan armed and dangerous, according to an LAPD statement issued Saturday. He was described as a 5-foot-7, 170-pound Armenian man with black hair, brown eyes and facial hair.
Capt. Billy Hayes, who heads the Robbery-Homicide Division, said Gasparyan is considered a suspect in the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old man near Van Nuys Boulevard and Plummer Street on Wednesday. Paramedics found the victim lying near a car and took him to a hospital, where he died.
Police initially described that killing as a road rage incident.
Burbank police also announced Saturday that Gasparyan was suspected in a Dec. 9 shooting in the 1700 block of North Catalina Street that left two people wounded.
At the time, Burbank police said a 67-year-old man was shot multiple times that morning outside his home. A 33-year-old gardener, who was working down the street, was shot once in the foot as the suspect fled, the man’s co-worker told the Burbank Leader.
Burbank police said Saturday that they were working with the LAPD on the investigation.
Anyone with information about Gasparyan is asked to call detectives at (213) 486-6890.
Twitter: @katemather
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