Answers sought in deadly liquor store shooting

LOCAL NEWS Answers sought in deadly liquor store shooting

By Caleb Lunetta Signal Staff Writer D etectives are investigating the circumstances around a fatal shooting at a Canyon Country liquor store Sunday night that left a store owner wounded and the suspect dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

New details have emerged since the shooting first took place at approximately 8:21 p.m. Sunday, while other critical pieces of information — such as the type of firearms used or the identities of the parties involved — have yet to be released, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Department Homicide Bureau officials.

Lt. Robert Westphal said Monday afternoon that investigators believe both the store owner and suspect, who is suspected of walking into Golden Stop Liquor on the 19900 block of Golden Valley Road with the intention of robbing the place, had their own firearms.

Deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station investigate a fatal shooting at a liquor store, at Golden Valley Road and Sierra Highway, on Sunday night. The incident left a robbery suspect dead and the liquor store owner wounded. PHOTO BY DAN WATSON / THE SIGNAL

However, the types of firearms used by both parties were not available as of 2:30 p.m. Monday, Westphal said. “As part of our normal investigation, we’ll look into the source of the guns,” said Westphal.

Both the suspect and the store owner were shot during the incident, according to officials. While the store owner was shot once in what appeared to be the lower part of his body, the suspect was reportedly shot multiple times, said Deputy Tracy Koerner of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.

Additionally, Westphal added that during their investigation, they’ll be analyzing the justifiability of the shooting. At the end of their investi

Liquor store staff share experiences

By Caleb Lunetta Signal Staff Writer W hen the call went out that a liquor store owner had fatally shot a suspected robber on Sunday, the news traveled fast, not only to law enforcement, but also to other liquor store employees in the surrounding neighborhood.

There have been 10 robberies in the SCV’s service area since Jan. 1, according to Lt. Ignacio Somoano of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff ’s Station, which patrols north to Gorman, south to the Newhall Pass, west to the Ventura County line and east to Agua Dulce. This number mirrors the rate from last year, officials said, regarding a time period that also saw 10 robberies. There were a total of 106 reported robberies in 2019, according to data available on the Sheriff ’s Department website.

“There hasn’t been an increase from last year,” said Somoano.

On Monday, three liquor store employees in Canyon Country said that, although they’ve each had a run-in with crime at their respective stores, they felt there was no increase to the danger after hearing about the shooting.

One worker at a store on Sierra Highway, near where the robbery had occurred, who asked not to name the location due to security concerns, said his store had never been robbed, but there have been multiple burglary attempts.

“They have broken the door before, and the back door,” said one liquor store employee. “Three weeks ago, they tried to go through (the back) door.”

However, the employee said he had never been robbed or forced to give up any money under duress. He also said his store has cameras, and uses other security measures to help keep the store safe, but that recent events have him thinking.

“For sure, we never know,” he said, adding though that fear of coming in to work is not something he thinks about on a daily basis. Another employee at a location on Soledad Canyon Road said something similar to the first worker: He was surprised the Golden Stop Liquor shooting had happened where it did.

“It really surprises me, because the location is in a nice area,” said the Soledad Canyon Road employee. “As far as my safety, it’s always in the back of my mind, but I don’t really worry about my safety.”

The sentiments of the Soledad Canyon employee were echoed by an employee working in a store nearby, who said his store had been the victim of theft and attempted break-ins, but he felt safe.

A consistent theme in all three stores, outside of them being victims of petty theft, was the cameras and steel curtains they pull in front of their glass windows as they lock up each night.

“As far as police response,” one said, “it’s pretty good out here.” \

gation, detectives will make a determination and then pass their recommendation on to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, which would then make the final decision on whether to charge the store owner.

Video footage from Santa Clarita Valley freelance journalist Austin Dave showed a lone man, crawling out of the store. Based on video footage, the man appeared to have been shot in the lower part of his body. As deputies approached the store entrance, guns drawn, the wounded man continued to crawl out of the store until a deputy grabbed him and pulled him out.

Paramedics soon arrived on the scene thereafter.

“(The suspect) may be looked at as someone who’s committed other crimes in the area,” said Westphal. “There was an armed robber that walked into a store, and barring that (the store owner) is not a convicted felon (or has any other reason to not legally own a firearm), as a general rule, they’re allowed to have a weapon inside their business.”

On Sunday night, multiple people who identified themselves as family members of the store owner were seen on the scene. They declined to comment about the incident.

As deputies put up police tape, cordoning off much of the parking lot, patrons of nearby La Cocina restaurant walked to their cars. An unnamed restaurant employee said they had been told to lock the doors as the situation unfolded outside.

As of Monday afternoon, no arrests had been made as a result of the incident.

Officials with the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office were spotted at the site of the reported shooting well into Monday morning.

The identification of the suspect has not yet been released by the Coroner’s Office. Because the Sheriff ’s Department investigation is pending, Westphal declined to give the name of the store owner, who was reportedly transferred to a local area hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening shortly after the incident Sunday night. \