1 dead, 1 hurt in Hawthorne shooting

Authorities are searching for at least one suspect in a Sunday afternoon shooting in Hawthorne that left one man dead and another in critical condition.

Two men were sitting inside a vehicle in the 13500 block of Doty Avenue, about a block from Zela Davis Park,  when at least one person approached them and started shooting shortly after 1 p.m., said Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Deputy Benjamin Grubb.

 One of the men in the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other was taken to the hospital in critical condition, Grubb said.

 

--Ari Bloomekatz

 

Swerving driver strikes, kills pedestrian on sidewalk in Koreatown

A 73-year-old driver swerved into oncoming traffic early Sunday before running off the road and fatally striking a man on a sidewalk in Koreatown, authorities said.

 The female motorist, who has not been identified, was not arrested, and there was no sign drugs or alcohol were involved, said LAPD Officer Karen Rayner. She said authorities will  determine later whether to file charges.

The motorist was driving a 2000 Nissan Pathfinder on Vermont Avenue at 8^th Street when she “veered into the northbound lanes of traffic and off the roadway” about 7:30 a.m. Sunday, police said.

 Los Angeles resident Yueany Qisquina, 27, was walking on the sidewalk when he was hit by the car. Authorities said he was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

 -- Ari Bloomekatz

Man shot and killed in Norwalk

L.A. County sheriff’s homicide detectives said they are investigating the shooting death of a Latino man in Norwalk.

The man, whose name has not been released, was  killed Sunday in the 11900 block of Pioneer Boulevard, according to Deputy Benjamin Grubb.

Grubb said the shooting occurred about 1 p.m. He said no more details were available Sunday.

ALSO:

LAPD officer stabbed with butcher knife; suspect killed

Crystal Cathedral: $50-million offer -- if certain conditions met

Pellet fired from BB gun hits KABC's Leanne Suter; teens arrested

-- Ari Bloomekatz

Image: Map shows location of Sunday's shooting in purple, as well as 13 other homicides (in red) since January 2007. Credit: Homicide Report

Reader photos: Southern California Moments, Day 212

En garde: Eric Kim found this feisty mime during the Downtown L.A. Art Walk on July 14.

Every day of 2011, we're featuring reader-submitted photos of Southern California Moments. For the first week of August, we challenge you to go mobile. Follow us on Twitter and visit the Southern California Moments homepage for more on this series.

Woman stabbed in Pacoima; suspect at large [Video]

Police sealed off a two-block area of Van Nuys Boulevard in Pacoima for more than six hours early Sunday in an unsuccessful search for a suspect who allegedly stabbed a woman during a domestic dispute.

The incident occurred in the 12800 block of Van Nuys at about 3:20 a.m., when the woman was stabbed in the upper body, said Los Angeles police Sgt. Jesse Ojeda of the Foothill station.

The woman, whose name was not released, was taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, where she was undergoing surgery. She was reported to be in stable condition with wounds that were not life-threatening, Ojeda said. Police were still trying to determine what weapon was used.

The suspect and victim had previously been in a relationship, Ojeda said. Several children were in the home during the incident but were unharmed, he said.

Police set up a perimeter in the area around the intersection of Van Nuys Boulevard and De Foe Avenue until about 10 a.m. but the suspect remained at large. Police provided no description.

ALSO:

Man shot to death in L.A.'s Chesterfield Square

LAPD officer stabbed with butcher knife; suspect killed

Man still seeks surgery after taking knife to his stomach hernia

-- Carla Rivera

Huntington Beach gets grant to crack down on alcohol crimes

The Huntington Beach Police Department, which has been combating problems with public drunkenness in downtown, has received a $50,000 state grant to fight alcohol-related crime over the next year.

The grant, which will fund undercover enforcement as well as educational programs for restaurant and bar owners, is the first the department has received since 2008.

Huntington Beach previously won grants in 1999 and 2000, Lt. Russell Reinhart told the Huntington Beach Independent.

The state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control received 130 applications and awarded grants to 46 police agencies, according to spokesman John Carr. Though Huntington Beach has been in the news receently regarding alcohol-related crime, Carr said the media attention didn't factor into the state's decision.

Reinhart said the enforcement will target problem areas around the city, predominantly downtown, where 38 businesses have licenses to serve alcohol within a few blocks.

RELATED:

Huntington Beach tops DUI collisions list

One bar linked to 72 drunken-driving arrests

Huntington Beach won't post drunk drivers' photos on Facebook 

-- Michael Miller, Times Community News

Photo: A man is arrested after a fight in downtown Huntington Beach.  Credit: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times

Woman stabbed in Pacoima; suspect at large

Police sealed off a two-block area of Van Nuys Boulevard in Pacoima for more than six hours early Sunday in an unsuccessful search for a suspect accused of stabbing a woman during a domestic dispute.

The incident occurred in the 12800 block of Van Nuys at about 3:20 a.m., when the woman was stabbed in the upper body, said Los Angeles police Sgt. Jesse Ojeda of the Foothill station.

The woman, whose name was not released, was taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, where she was undergoing surgery. She was reported to be in stable condition with wounds that were not life-threatening, Ojeda said. Police were still trying to determine what weapon was used.

The suspect and victim had previously been in a relationship, Ojeda said. Several children were in the home during the incident but were unharmed, he said.

Police set up a perimeter in the area around the intersection of Van Nuys Boulevard and De Foe Avenue until about 10 a.m. but the suspect remained at large. Police provided no description.

ALSO:

Man shot to death in L.A.'s Chesterfield Square

LAPD officer stabbed with butcher knife; suspect killed

Man still seeks surgery after taking knife to his stomach hernia

-- Carla Rivera

Image: Map shows location of where a woman was stabbed in Pacoima. Source: Mapping L.A.

Work continues on water main break in Hollywood

Utility crews Sunday morning continued to repair one of two early morning water main breaks.

An 8-inch pipe that connects to a 16-inch valve broke just after 3 a.m. near Wilcox Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, said Karen Hughes of the Department of Water and Power. She did not know how many customers were affected by the break.

“Our first priority is to stop any kind of flow and to make the necessary repairs and get it restored as quickly as possible,” Hughes said.

Another break, reported just after 1 a.m. at 4400 Victorine Street near Rose Hill Park in Montecito Heights, affected the residents of a nearby housing complex and was restored a few hours later, she said.

ALSO:

LAPD officer stabbed with butcher knife; suspect killed

Crystal Cathedral: $50-million offer -- if certain conditions met

Pellet fired from BB gun hits KABC's Leanne Suter; teens arrested

-- Paloma Esquivel

Image: Map shows location of a water main break in Hollywood. Source: Google Maps

Assault of hospital workers is common, Times investigation finds

There is a new push to better protect hospital workers against violence, which some medical professionals and groups believe is rising, according to a Times investigation.

Nearly 40% of employees in California emergency rooms said they had been assaulted on the job in the previous year, according to a survey by UC San Francisco and other researchers in 2007. More than one in 10 emergency room nurses surveyed in 2010 said they had been attacked in the previous week, according to the Emergency Nurses Assn., which represents 40,000 emergency room nurses nationally.

The violence flares most often in emergency rooms and psychiatric wards, say staffers, researchers and security officials. In emergency rooms, waiting times have grown as increasing numbers of unemployed and uninsured patients seek basic care they can't afford to pay for in doctors' offices.

Staffers are obligated by law to evaluate anyone who comes in for treatment, said Michael B. Jackson, an emergency room nurse at UC San Diego Medical Center. He said that whether they be gang members, drug users, psychotic patients or just "people that get frustrated with wait times," they might act out.

ALSO:

$50-million offer for Crystal Cathedral

LAPD officer stabbed with butcher knife; suspect killed

Man still seeks surgery after taking knife to his stomach hernia

-- Jessica Garrison and Molly Hennessy-Fiske

Photo: Emergency room nurse Michael B. Jackson has been attacked on the job. Some patients give warnings, but “other times it just happens,” he said. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

Crystal Cathedral: $50-million offer -- if certain conditions met

A Norco-based church has filed papers in federal bankruptcy court saying it will pay $50 million in cash for the financially troubled Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove on the condition that family members of cathedral founder Robert H. Schuller and staff members resign from the organization’s board of directors.

A letter and plan filed by My Father's House Church International is one of several proposals offered to the cathedral’s board of directors, which was reorganized this week. On Saturday, Crystal Cathedral spokesman John Charles said he did not believe the proposal was “a viable plan.”

According to a letter of intent filed Thursday, the Norco church would accept resignations from all Schuller family members and their bankruptcy lawyers if the proposal were accepted.

“There will be a respectful transition that allows everyone to leave with dignity, so everyone wins,” said founding Pastor Mark A. Thomas, who leads the church with his wife, Kimberley.

My Father's House Church broadcasts a twice-a-week program called “Latter Day Kings,” which officials say draws at least 10,000 viewers. The church would also set up an escrow fund to repay the cathedral’s debts, using 75% of donations received monthly.

The letter said that the “current church administration is perceived as self-serving.”

“A church can never prosper as a business once it has lost the trust and support of its “parishioners,” the letter read.

Thomas said in a phone interview Saturday that his church would evaluate staff members through the period of transition.

“We’re not coming in to hit people on the head and say goodbye on the first day,” he said.

He said that Robert H. Schuller will continue to be honored. “It is not a cut-off of what Dr. Schuller has done, it’s a continuation,” he said.

A bankruptcy hearing before Judge Robert Kwan is scheduled for Aug. 1 in Santa Ana.

RELATED:

Buena Park police officer dies after training exercise

Man still seeks surgery after taking knife to his stomach hernia

L.A. Police chief on the Dodgers beating case: 'We can do much better'

-- Nicole Santa Cruz

Photo: The Crystal Cathedral. Credit: Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times

Man seriously hurt in leap from third floor of skid row building

A distraught man jumped from the third-floor fire escape of a skid row building shortly before 9 a.m. Sunday and was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, authorities said.

The man, who had been threatening to jump since 4:30 a.m., missed an inflatable mattress the fire department had placed on the ground to try to catch him, said LAPD Sgt. David Lopez.

"He was able to jump past it," Lopez said. An LAPD Crisis Negotiation Team had been trying to talk the man down for hours. Lopez said the man was distraught over personal issues.

The building, which is owned by the Jonah Project, a Christian nonprofit organization, serves the homeless of skid row with food, housing and programs.

The man was taken immediately to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. "It wasn't looking good," Lopez said. "It appeared to be critical."

ALSO:

LAPD officer stabbed with butcher knife; suspect killed

Crystal Cathedral: $50-million offer -- if certain conditions met

Pellet fired from BB gun hits KABC's Leanne Suter; teens arrested

-- Raja Abdulrahim

Wild weather brings flooding, lightning, brush fires to Southland

 

 

A flash-flood warning remains in effect Sunday for parts for Southern California's mountains, high deserts and some inland valleys.

On Saturday, sudden bursts of intense rain caused flooding in several Inland Empire communities and left thousands without power in Victorville and the Antelope Valley.

Lightning sparked several small brush fires in the San Bernardino Mountains. Firefighters, with help of aircraft, were able to contain the fires.

Crime alerts for Hancock Park, Playa Vista and seven other L.A. neighborhoods

Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in nine L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times’ Crime L.A. database.

Five neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Hancock Park (A) was the most unusual, recording five reports compared with a weekly average of 0.8 over the last three months.

Playa Vista (F) topped the list of six neighborhoods with property crime alerts. It recorded 14 property crimes compared with its weekly average of 4.0 over the last three months.

Two neighborhoods triggered alerts for both violent and property crime.

Alerts are based on an analysis of crime reports for July 19–July 25, the most recent seven days for which data are available.

— Ben Welsh, Thomas Suh Lauder

Camp Pendleton Marines in Afghanistan warned of Taliban threat

During a surprise visit Saturday with Marines and sailors from Camp Pendleton deployed in Afghanistan, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff warned against complacency and said Taliban fighters could be planning increased attacks.

"We are in a time right now where ... the number of attacks is down," Adm. Mike Mullen told members of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. "That doesn't mean it isn't going to jump back up. You have been here when it did so that certainly could happen."

Mullen spoke to members of the 1/5 at Forward Operating Base Jackson. The battalion is assigned to Sangin, the onetime Taliban stronghold in Helmand province, the center of the region's poppy crop. The crop is turned into heroin, providing income for the insurgency.

From late April to late June, seven Marines from the battalion were killed. There have been no reported deaths in July.

Marines must continue pushing the Taliban farther away from Sangin, Mullen said: "There is still a lot of work to be done. I know that; you know that. In this province, you are at the core of completing what some people thought couldn't be done."

As the Taliban loses ground, its leaders could be forced "into making some decisions they haven't had to make in the past," Mullen said.

Mullen praised the progress of the Afghan security forces toward assuming responsibility for protecting the population of Helmand province, according to accounts of the visit made available by the Marine Corps.

"They are the way home" for U.S. troops, he said. "They're the ones who are going to have to take this over."

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Adm. Mike Mullen with Marines and sailors in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Credit: U.S. Marine Corps