Suspected gunman, victim found dead in L.A. house

LOS ANGELES — A gunman and one of his victims were found dead inside the charred remains of a Hollywood house Thursday where three other gunshot victims had been rescued from the burning home by police and firefighters, authorities said.

The two bodies were found after the fire was out and authorities were able to search the structure.

The three other victims — two women and a man — were found shot at the home when police and firefighters arrived. They were all taken to a hospital in serious condition and expected to survive.

Police believe the gunman had a relationship with one of the surviving victims. The shooting was called “domestically motivated’ but authorities did not elaborate.

At the height of the blaze, TV news helicopters over the scene showed officers, some with shotguns, crouching near the corner of an apartment building as firefighters trained hoses on the flames from a distance.

Other firefighters stayed behind the protection of a fire engine.

The rambling single-story home already was smoking when firefighters were called to the scene. A 34-year-old man and two 38-year-old women had been shot and police took them from the front of the home, authorities said.

Neighbor Rosemary Marroquin, 25, said the people who lived in the house had moved there within the past year. She believed three couples resided there and called them friendly people.

She said there were no signs of violence, and she never heard fighting or any disturbances.

Speaking through a Spanish translator, area resident Angelica De Paz said she was about to go to a store when she saw a man kick in the front door of the house. About five minutes later, De Paz said, she got a call from a neighbor who said the house was on fire.

“I thought it was a joke,” De Paz said.

She described the man she saw as being in his 20s or 30s, wearing a black shirt with blue jeans.

Area resident Darwin Urbina said he saw a man of the same description sitting on a curb outside the house shortly before he heard shots. Urbina said he and the man looked at each other.

“He had this intense look,” Urbina said. “He just stared at me for a while.”

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