Authorities are searching for the gunman and his getaway driver after a rising basketball star was fatally shot in Compton this week.
The victim has been identified as 19-year-old Carl Lewis by those who knew him.
He died at the scene after being ambushed shortly before 11 a.m. Tuesday while sitting in the driver’s seat of his car eating breakfast outside Sr. Cliff’s Texas Style Burritos on the 400 block of Alondra Boulevard, according to Los Angeles sheriff’s officials.
Sheriff’s investigators on Wednesday released video of the shooting, which shows the gunman approach the driver’s window on foot and fire into Lewis’ vehicle. He was struck multiple times in the upper torso, officials say.
The shooter then took off running and got into a white sedan that fled east on Alondra Boulevard, said Lt. Barry Hall.
Lewis’ former coaches describe him as a talented football and basketball player with great potential.
DeAnthony Langston, who helps organize showcase events for the Real Run basketball program, said Lewis was a standout on his teams at Compton and Lynwood high schools.
“He’s a local kid right here,” he said. “Everybody know him.”
Several coaches mentored the young man and hoped to keep his life on the right track, Langston said.
“We’re just really hurting right now,” he told KTLA. “There was a lot of people that put a lot of effort into not wanting this day to happen right here. You tried to do all you can to help him. And it just wasn’t enough.”
Tony Thomas, Lewis’ former coach, said he met Lewis when the athlete was just 11 years old.
“He had the most potential I’ve ever seen as a kid,” Thomas said. “He had a big heart. Kind person.”
Investigators have yet to release a possible motive in the case.
“We can’t comment on gang membership of victim at this point, although, the shooting has all the earmarks of a gang related shooting,” Hall said.
Detectives describe the suspect as a Black male in his late teens or early 20s. At the time of the shooting, he was wearing a hoodie with shorts.
Anyone with information can contact the sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Anonymous tips may be submitted via 800-222-8477 or www.lacrimestoppers.org.