A 23-year-old man was shot and killed Tuesday in Hollywood in what Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said was another in a series of “follow-home robberies.”
Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood Station responded at 2:10 a.m. to 7181 Sunset Blvd. outside the Bossa Nova Restaurant on multiple calls of a shooting, where they found Jose Ruiz Gutierrez unresponsive, according to Officer Drake Madison of the LAPD.
Gutierrez died at the scene, Madison said.
According to witnesses, the suspects drove away from the scene in a black Nissan and were seen with handguns, Madison said. No arrests were reported.
Later Tuesday, LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the city’s Police Commission that the crime was connected to another “follow-home robbery,” in which robbers follow people who are wearing high-end jewelry or have expensive vehicles or other belongings.
Moore said the victim was “coming to the aid of a female who was being attacked” when he was killed.
The chief announced that the LAPD will create a task force to investigate the crimes, which will be composed of robbery homicide detectives and resources from the LAPD’s Gang Narcotics Division and Metropolitan Division.
“They’ll work moving forward on identifying these individuals responsible and pursuing and bringing them before the criminal justice system,” Moore said. “The impact this is having on the sense of community, of safety, is profound.”
He added that people should not try to protect their property when confronted with robbers.
“There’s no item of jewelry or piece of property that they have that is worth their life, and so if they find themselves in such a perilous situation, to cooperate, be a good witness. … do not chase people, do not try to pursue people and do not try to take actions yourself other than to minimize the chance that you become a victim of the type of violence we saw this morning,” he said.
He added that if someone notices they’re being followed, they should not drive home and instead go to a police station and call 911.
“Do not stop, do not make a confrontation with the individual. Instead, call us and let us come and help.”
Anyone with information on the crime was urged to call 877-LAPD-247.