Dad shot and killed in St. John Bosco parking lot, coming to watch son's football game
BELLFLOWER, Calif. - A father was shot and killed in the parking lot of St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower early Saturday morning as he was coming to watch his son's football game, deputies said. Now the search is on for the shooter.
It happened around 8:20 a.m. Saturday, in the school parking lot on Bellflower Boulevard. Deputies were called out after reports of a shooting. When they got there, they found a man who had been shot in a car. Deputies told FOX 11 that there was a woman who was also in the car, who was uninjured. Video from the scene showed a white four-door car that had multiple bullet holes in the windshield.
Paramedics took the man to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The shooter got away.
"Guy is coming to see his son play an 8-U football game, and he lost his life," said Coach Mike Brown. "That’s not normal."
Brown coaches the North Long Beach Panthers 8-U team. He said they heard at least three gunshots while warming up Saturday morning.
"Pop, pop, pop," said Brown. "At first we thought it was the balloons in the stands."
According to Brown, the father of one of the 7-year-olds on the team was killed in the shooting. He believes the child was unaware of what happened during the game.
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"The kid did finish the football game and all that," said Brown. "I guess the mother didn’t want to give him all that information."
Authorities are still investigating a possible motive. They believe the shooter was the passenger in a light-colored sedan.
"There was no incident in the parking lot that started this," said LASD Lt. Hugo Reynaga. "We don’t know if maybe he was followed here, or if somebody here recognized him."
Reynaga told FOX 11 that the victim had been driving a white car recently reported as stolen out of Lynwood.
"There is surveillance video of the parking lot," said Lt. Reynaga. "Investigators are working on recovering that surveillance video."
Football games continued at the school continued as normal Saturday. Some parents were shocked to hear what happened.
"It’s too much," said Jessica Luevano. "You brought a gun to a kid’s festivity. This is insane. I’d like to get my son and leave, but that’s all that money down the drain."
Coach Brown called what happened "heartbreaking," as the 7 and 8-year-old players now learn about what happened.
"It’s very heartbreaking," said Brown. "Brought tears to my eyes. I coach in the inner city. Now, that’s another kid growing up in the inner city without a dad. That’s where my job comes in to step in. That’s just another one I’ve got to take under my wing."