Police are asking the public for assistance in their effort to determine who fatally shot a 28-year-old man in south Glendale last Saturday.
Officers responded to multiple reports of gunshots near Central Avenue and Laurel Street in the Tropico neighborhood at around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, according to the Glendale Police Department. There also were reports of a vehicle being driven erratically and running stop signs in the vicinity.
Police found that the driver of that vehicle had been shot, and after officers and members of the Glendale Fire Department attempted life-saving measures, the man was pronounced dead at Los Angeles County USC-Medical Center that morning.
Sgt. Christian Hauptmann of the GPD said detectives located the original scene of the shooting, but would disclose only that it was “relatively close” to where officers found the victim. Noting that the investigation is ongoing, Hauptmann also declined to say how many times the man had been shot and whether he lived in Glendale.
Police have not yet made any arrests in the investigation. This is the city’s fourth homicide investigation this year.
Those with any information are encouraged to contact GPD at (818) 548-4911. To leave an anonymous tip, contact the Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477, use the P3 Mobile App or visit lacrimestoppers.org.
City Looks Into Establishing Its Own Public Health Department
The City Council has asked administrative staff to look into what it might take for Glendale to establish its own public health department.
The curiosity follows the mandate from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to shutter all outdoor in-person dining at restaurants, one of many restrictions re-imposed after record-shattering spikes in coronavirus cases in recent weeks. The council has not committed to following through on the bureaucratic expansion, but there remains the chance it finds value in federalizing itself from the county.
“Local rule,” coined Councilman Ara Najarian, who advanced the idea.
Man Suspected in Gunfire at Hotel to Be Arraigned in May
A Glendale man suspected of firing several gunshots inside a local hotel will be arraigned in Los Angeles Superior Court in May, according to arresting officials.
Meanwhile, the Glendale Police Department is not releasing any additional information regarding the man’s Nov. 15 arrest, which occurred after he allegedly fired numerous shots into an empty room at the Glenmark Hotel at about 7 a.m. that day and fled in a vehicle that careened into a nearby business. GPD Sgt. Christian Hauptmann said the suspect will be arraigned in the spring, possibly on a charge of illegal discharge of a firearm. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused delays in court proceedings.
La Crescenta School a Finalist in National Challenge
The U.S. Department of Education has announced that Anderson Clark Magnet High School in La Crescenta is one of five finalists in CTE Mission: CubeSat, a national challenge to students to build technical skills for careers in space and beyond.
The department issued the challenge to inspire students and help high schools explore approaches that infuse more science, technology, engineering and math in career and technical education, or CTE. From August to October, high schools across the country created mission proposals for CubeSat (cube satellite) projects. CTE teachers led teams from 22 states as they developed missions for studying topics important to their own communities, as well as broader space exploration.
County Officials Affirm Suspension of Outdoor Dining
Los Angeles County this week delivered yet another blow to the restaurant industry by announcing the suspension of in-person dining outdoors, and officials later rebuffed an effort to reverse the move, while more restrictions were likely on the way as the number of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continues to climb.
Outdoor dining, which had been permitted since July, has been suspended for restaurants, breweries and wineries after an alarming surge of coronavirus cases throughout the county; indoor dining at eateries has long been banned. Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed a curfew for all nonessential businesses and gatherings between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. late last week.
City Pays Tribute to Woman Slain in Tajikistan
The City Council this week approved a Brand Park memorial for Lauren Geoghegan, a Glendale native killed in 2018 in Tajikistan while on an international bicycling journey. Geoghegan, pictured here in Malawi, spent much of her childhood at the park.
An eastern redbud tree will soon grow in a peaceful corner of Brand Park, alongside a bench for park-goers to rest and reflect on the woman whom the two amenities commemorate.
The City Council this week approved placement of the memorial items that will honor the life of Glendale native Lauren Geoghegan, who with her boyfriend, Jay Austin, and two others were killed in 2018 by militants in Tajikistan who later pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. Geoghegan’s parents, Elvira Muñoz and Robert Geoghegan, approached the city earlier this year about the idea.
Man Arrested Following Hotel Shooting
A 25-year-old Glendale man was arrested this week after allegedly firing several gunshots inside of a Glendale hotel room.
The Glendale Police Department reported receiving the shots-fired call at around 7 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 15. Multiple people reported that there was yelling and several gunshots fired on the fourth floor of the Glenmark Hotel, on the corner of Brand Boulevard and Dryden Street. A man was seen fleeing with a vehicle in the hotel’s parking lot afterward, according to GPD.
Surveillance footage showed a man draw a handgun inside the hotel and fire several shots both into the floor and into an empty room before running to the vehicle, police said. Responding officers gathered spent shell casings at the scene and noted a shattered glass door and bullet holes at the crime scene.
Nobody was struck by bullets.
Officers apprehended the man shortly afterward, GPD said, when the same vehicle seen leaving the hotel collided with a building at the intersection of Brand and Mountain Street. Though the motorist fled from the vehicle, officers apprehended him afterward without incident, the police department said.
The department said it expects to charge the man with illegal discharge of a firearm.
Nagorno-Karabakh Accord Displeases Local Demonstrators
A crowd massed outside the Armenian Consulate on Monday night, largely to decry a peace deal signed by Armenia that favored Azerbaijan in the war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region claimed by the Artsakh nation.
Expressing disappointment, sadness and anger, members of Glendale’s Armenian community gathered downtown Monday after news of an accord in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with the local demonstration eventually shutting down part of Central Avenue.
The effusive mood typically shown by Glendale members of the Armenian diaspora at events outside the Armenian Consulate was replaced by somberness as the crowd processed information that had begun trickling out hours earlier. The throng had learned that the peace agreement signed by Armenia largely ceded land in the Nagorno-Karabakh region to Azerbaijan that the latter’s army had retaken in the
six-week war.
The agreement, brokered by Russia, is largely seen as a victory for Azerbaijan, which aimed to reassert control of the region — home of Armenian-populated Artsakh — that has mostly functioned autonomously since 1994.
Latino Association’s Gesture of Solidarity With Armenians
The Glendale Latino Association recently erected a Día de los Muertos altar that paid homage to the Armenians who have fought to defend the Artsakh republic from the control of Azerbaijan.
The well-known Mexican observance of Día de los Muertos proved this year to be a community-building medium in Glendale.
The Glendale Latino Association typically sets up an altar for the Day of the Dead every year, tipping its cap to its members of Mexican heritage. However, the coronavirus pandemic this year means that access to the organization’s center is closed, so not many people could have seen the piece.
Instead, current events — the war involving Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Armenian-populated Artsakh region that resumed in September — opened a door for the local organization to build bridges with Glendale’s prominent Armenian community. What resulted was a Día de los Muertos altar paying homage to Armenia and Artsakh, for all to see on Glendale’s Artsakh Avenue promenade.
Jennie Quinonez-Skinner, president of the GLA, said the idea came from one of the group’s recent meetings.
COVID-19 Cases on the Rise Locally, Nationally
By Zand Hill and Christian Leonard
Glendale News-Press
Glendale reached a dubious milestone this week as health officials sounded the alarm again on the apparently uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus that has left the nation reeling.
The number of city residents who have tested positive for the disease since March rose to 5,068, one of the highest totals among suburban Los Angeles municipalities. As of Friday, at least 186 Glendale residents have succumbed to the disease. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials reported this week that since Oct. 3, the test positivity rate for COVID-19 has risen from 3.6% to 5.9% countywide.
This week there were around 103 intensive care unit beds available countywide, as hospitalizations for the disease again are rising. This week there were 953 hospitalized patients — 28% of whom were in ICUs — after the county reached a low of 682 hospitalized patients on Oct. 3.
You must be logged in to post a comment.