A Santa Ana man was arrested Friday on suspicion of fatally shooting the owner of a Tustin mixed-martial arts and boxing training center, a shooting witnesses said was the culmination of a protracted dispute between teacher and former student.
Kirk Vernell Price, 53, was arrested about 1 a.m. and booked into the Orange County Jail on suspicion of murder in the death of Tustin resident Fahness Lutalo, 44, according to Tustin police Lt. Bob Wright. He was being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
Price was arrested near the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana when Tustin police were notified by sheriff’s deputies that the suspect was in their sights, Wright said. Investigators suspect Price was trying to turn himself in, Wright said.
The shooting occurred about 12:10 p.m. Thursday at the OC Boxing & MMA Academy, in a strip mall at 14051 Newport Ave. Police were called to the gym in response to a “shots fired” call, according to Wright.
Wright said investigators were working to determine a motive for the shooting. Gym workers told reporters at the scene that Price was a former student of Lutalo’s but the two had a parting of the ways.
Price was allegedly thrown out of a previous gym Lutalo operated, but he showed up at OC Boxing & MMA Academy over the weekend and was told to leave, according to media reports from the scene.
Although Price was arrested, police were still asking for the public’s help tracking down the suspect’s vehicle and murder weapon, Wright said.
The vehicle was described as a black 2013 Chevrolet Spark with tinted windows, license number 7BMS565. Anyone with information on the case was urged to call police at (714) 573-3250.
Price has a lengthy criminal history for robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and various parole violations, Wright said.
Lutalo’s father, Jerry Wilson, told reporters outside the gym today that his son “exceeded any expectations or dreams or hopes that I could ever have for him.”
“He was absolutely my hero, my man, my boy,” Wilson said. “This (gym) was his dream. This was his dream and he made it happen. And he paid the price for it. I mean, he worked, he sacrificed, he did everything he needed to do to get here, and he finally got here.”
According to the gym’s website, Lutalo had more than 30 years experience in martial arts and was a former wrestling coach at Valencia High School.
Supporters have established a crowd-funding site for the father of three to help defray bills.
Price walked into the gym, asked Lutalo a question and is accused of opening fire on Lutalo at least a dozen times, Senior Deputy District Attorney Scott Simmons said.
Simmons plans to go over evidence with police on Monday and decide then on the filing of charges, he said.
— City News Service