Police search for 2 suspects after LA shooting leaves 3 dead

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Los Angeles police searched Sunday for at least two suspects as they tried to determine the motive for a shooting that left three people dead and 12 wounded, two gravely, at a restaurant operating out of a converted home.

A preliminary investigation determined an argument preceded the gunfire early Saturday during a birthday celebration attended by more than 100 people in a Jamaican community.

“It may be a narcotics-related dispute … a dispute between parties over business transactions,” Capt. Peter Whittingham told the Los Angeles Times.

Police questioned two possible suspects shortly after the incident, but officials said later no one was in custody. Investigators have not released suspect descriptions.

“We have street names for these suspects but we don’t know who the killers are yet. The people shot either don’t know the killers or aren’t telling us what they do know,” Whitingham said. Detectives believe the shooters’ main target died.

Detectives “need all the help we can get, especially from the Jamaican community,” Whitingham added.

Three men died at the scene.

Two victims were in critical condition late Saturday, Officer Jenny Houser said. Two of the wounded were released and the others had wounds that were not considered life-threatening. Police did not disclose the names or ages of those shot.

The restaurant owner told the Times he runs a Jamaican catering business out of the house and was hosting a birthday party when the shooting broke out. A man who had gone to the house to ask that a car be moved from his brother’s driveway told the newspaper there were dozens of people in the house and yard and that a DJ was playing music.

Shortly after they left, Paul Elen said he heard 15 to 20 shots.

“My brother thought it was fireworks,” Elen said. “I said, ‘No, ain’t no smoke in there. Them ain’t fireworks, them gunshots.'”

Police who arrived at the scene in a working class neighborhood dotted by tall palm trees found shell casings and blood throughout the restaurant west of downtown Los Angeles.

Officer Mike Lopez said investigators were seeking a suspect he described as a black male, possibly accompanied by a woman.

According to the preliminary investigation, after the argument started a man and woman left, then returned, and the restaurant erupted in gunfire.

One firearm was recovered.

Blair Hamilton, 58, who lives a block from the shooting, told the newspaper that when he came out of his house, he saw an older woman with a bloodied face, sitting on a curb next to two other women, one of whom also appeared to be injured. A girl lay on the curb, attended by another girl.

Some of the wounded were taken by ambulance to hospitals. Others drove themselves, authorities said.

Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement that he was confident police would unravel questions surrounding the shooting, and expressed sympathy for victims’ families.