Gunman Kills 2 at Calif. Store
Repo...@home.com
Gunman Kills 2 at Calif. Store
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) - A gunman sprayed an auto parts store with
bullets
Monday, killing two people and wounding four others.
It was unclear whether the victims were employees, customers or
bystanders,
Sgt. Todd Elgin said. Police said the motive was not known.
The gunman opened fire about 1 p.m. outside Robotek, which sells
performance
car accessories, then burst inside and resumed the attack. Witnesses
said the
young man fled from the store in a gray minivan and another man may have
fled
with him.
Three people were in critical condition and undergoing surgery.
An 18-year-old man was shot in the back, a 17-year-old person was hit in
the
neck and grazed in the left hand, and a 48-year-old person had several
gunshots
wounds to the neck, cheek, arm, thigh and buttocks, said a hospital
spokeswoman.
A 15-year-old boy was shot in the ankle and was in good condition.
Garden Grove is about 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
AP-NY-08-30-99
-------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of today's Reuters news wire:
Suspects Sought In Multiple Shooting
August 31, 1999
Reuters
(GARDEN GROVE) -- Garden Grove police are searching for one and possibly
two
suspects in connection with a multiple shooting at a car customizing
shop. Two
people were shot to death at the shop yesterday. Another four people
were
injured in the shooting. Three are reported in critical condition. The
gunman
is described as a male Asian in his 20's. Witnesses say they heard at
least ten
shots fired. He's believed to have taken off in a minivan, possibly with
another person at the wheel. The motive for the incident is not known.
However,
there was a similar incident at another auto shop recently.
---------------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 8/31/99 online edition of The
Los
Angeles Times newspaper:
Tuesday, August 31, 1999
2 Killed, 4 Wounded in Shooting at Auto Accessories Shop
Gunman strolls out of store and flees in a minivan. Three victims are
critical
while one is released from hospital.
By H.G. REZA, JANET WILSON, JASON KANDEL, Special to The Times
GARDEN GROVE--A gunman opened fire at a family-owned auto accessories
store
Monday, killing two people and injuring four others--three of them
critically--before he casually tucked his handgun into his pants,
climbed into
a gray minivan and sped away with a waiting driver.
Police and paramedics found one body inside Robotek and another man
shot
to death in the front seat of his car in the mini-mall's parking lot at
13120
Brookhurst St. Calls to 911 began pouring in just after 1:14 p.m.
"I heard seven to eight shots as I was approaching the shopping
center,"
said an 18-year-old who was riding his bike by the store. "I saw a guy
stick
something in front of his pants and walk slowly away."
Three critically wounded victims were taken to UC Irvine Medical
Center,
including two teenagers and the owner of Robotek, 48-year-old Charlie
Kim, who
had been shot five times. A fourth victim, 15, was taken to Garden Grove
Hospital and Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the foot and later
released.
Paramedics arrived minutes after the shooting and made a futile
attempt to
revive a man whom family members said was Tony Ngo, pulling his lifeless
body
out of the bullet-ridden car and onto the parking lot to perform
cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Monday was Ngo's 18th birthday. The Bolsa Grande High graduate
lived with
his family in Fountain Valley, and was preparing to leave home for his
freshman
year at UC Davis.
Ngo's close friend, Han Vo of Fountain Valley, also was inside the
car
when the gunman began pumping bullets through the windshield, his
friends and
relatives said. A bullet pierced Vo's neck and grazed his hand, but the
17-year-old is expected to survive.
Police have not released the identity of the other person killed.
The motive for the bloody rampage was unknown, but detectives were
checking possibilities that one of the suspects could have been a
disgruntled
customer or employee, said Police Sgt. Dennis Ellsworth, although no one
in the
store recognized the gunman. Police said another man also might have
been
driving the getaway car. A third man was seen running away, but police
said he
may have been a frightened bystander.
Witnesses told police the gunman was Asian, in his 20s, wearing
basketball
shorts. He had short-cropped hair with a long, bleached strand of hair.
The gunman and the driver were last seen headed east on Larson
Avenue and
north on Flower Street. Police said they were driving a gray Mazda MPV
minivan
with tinted windows.
Robotek, which Kim opened with his wife in 1995, drew a steady
crowd of
young customers from the ethnically diverse Garden Grove community and
specialized in lowering cars and trucks and outfitting them with chrome
wheel
rims and other flashy accessories.
Kevin Lee was across the street from the storefront auto parts
store when
he heard the "pop pop pop" of a handgun. Lee saw a mechanic cowering
behind a
wall near Robotek's auto bay.
"He was hiding," said Lee, owner of Kevin's Auto Center across
Larson
Avenue from the shooting scene. "I thought, 'Something is going on.
Something
is wrong.' Then I heard the gunshots."
Lee ran back inside his shop, called 911, then dove behind a
counter. When
he peered out again, he saw Ngo dead in the parking lot.
Two of Ngo's friends drove up to the store minutes after the
shooting and
saw the windshield shattered with bullets and his white tennis shoes
sticking
out of the car. They ran to get Ngo's family, who own a Vietnamese
restaurant
blocks away.
Ngo's mother arrived a short time later. When she learned of her
son's
violent death, she went limp, sobbing in her brother's arms.
"She wanted to identify the body but police wouldn't let her,
because they
said it would jeopardize the investigation at this point," said Ngo's
uncle,
Gary Nguyen.
Another 18-year-old was fighting for his life at UC Irvine Medical
Center
on Monday afternoon, with his family, shocked and clearly distraught,
waiting
nervously in the hospital waiting room.
Edward Kim of Garden Grove was being treated for wounds to his back
and
abdomen and spent much of the day in the operating room.
The owner of Robotek, Kim, suffered gunshot wounds to his right
side,
cheek, arm, buttocks, thigh and neck, said hospital spokeswoman Kim
Pine. Kim
was out of surgery by 6 p.m. Charlie Kim and Edward Kim are not related,
their
relatives said.
Vo was also out of surgery by 6 p.m., and is expected to fully
recover,
Pine said.
Times staff writers Janet Wilson, Daniel Yi, Brady MacDonald, Kate
Folmar,
John O'Dell and Scott Gold contributed to this story.
*************************************