Shots in the dark
Police investigating early–morning gunshots find man dead on Dearborn
By André Coleman 12/29/2011
Pasadena homicide detectives are investigating the death of an unidentified Latino man found in Northwest Pasadena early Tuesday morning.
Police found the body after an extensive search shortly before 6 a.m. on the 100 block of Dearborn Street after receiving calls of shots fired in the area of Marengo Avenue.
The shooting marks the seventh homicide in Pasadena in 2011, compared to three in 2010. Only two of the cases this year have not been solved.
The unsolved homicides include the latest incident and the Aug. 22 shooting death of Marvin Laguan. Laguan was celebrating a friend’s release from prison on Mar Vista Avenue when two men approached him and shot him multiple times. No arrests have been made in that case.
Police did not attribute this year’s increased murder rate to any specific cause.
In Tuesday’s case, residents living close to the crime scene told police they heard multiple gunshots around 5:45 a.m. Despite those statements, police did not confirm the victim’s death was the result of gunshot wounds until Los Angeles County coroner officials arrived on the scene Tuesday afternoon. California law bars police from turning over or searching a body without a coroner’s representative present.
Pasadena Police Lt. Phlunte Riddle said police had few leads in the case.
“They couldn’t tell, from the way he was positioned, if he was shot or not,” Riddle said. “We did find shell casings in the area close to the body. At this time, we are categorizing this as a homicide. Detectives are talking to witnesses in the area. However, right now, we don’t have any eyewitnesses to the incident, but we do have people that say they heard the gunshots.”
Councilwoman Jacque Robinson, who represents the district where the latest homicide took place, called the incident a tragedy.
“It is unfortunate,” said Robinson. “It’s really sad that this has to happen during the holiday season. We can only hope that it is not an uptick in homicides or violence in general, especially when we have been doing so much to combat these types of situations.”
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