Man guilty of attempted murder

ALHAMBRA — A 61-year-old Tujunga man Monday was convicted of four attempted murder charges in a July 2007 shooting rampage in southeast Glendale that left four people wounded.

The man, Valodia Balabekyan, was convicted in Alhambra Superior Court more than a year after he was arrested shortly after the shooting in a South Belmont Street apartment.

In addition to the attempted murder charges, the jury convicted Balabekyan of five counts of assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and for possessing a silencer.

Before entering his brother’s apartment in the early morning, Balabekyan concealed the handgun inside a hollowed-out Dremel tool kit, investigators said.

The plastic box was rigged to allow the nine-shot revolver to be fired while still inside.

Three other women, who were also family members, sustained injuries in the attack, but none were life-threatening, police said.

Investigators initially thought the victims had been stabbed after at first failing to find the handgun, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

“It wasn’t until the next day that we found the gun,” he said.

A family member called police after noticing the tool kit. Upon arrival, investigators dismantled the box to find the pistol hidden inside, Lorenz added.

Neighbors said at the time of the investigation that they had heard repeated shouting matches from inside the apartment.

Balabekyan is due to be sentenced in October, Lorenz said.