A teen who was a passenger in a vehicle was shot to death during a possible attempted robbery in Koreatown Tuesday night, police said.
The incident occurred around 10:30 p.m. near the intersection of 7th and Berendo streets, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Police say a man approached the Nissan Altima that the victim, now identified as 17-year-old Dylan Ramirez, and his friend, who was driving, were in. The suspect allegedly pulled out a gun and demanded money.
That’s when the teen’s friend drove off, trying to escape as police say the man fired several shots at the vehicle. Ramirez was struck by gunfire at least once.
His friend tried to drive him to the hospital, but only got as far as Olympic Boulevard and Burlington Avenue where he flagged down LAPD officers who attempted to render aid before Los Angeles Firefighters arrived. The 17-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Wednesday night, family members of Ramirez gathered on the corner in Westlake where he died. The teen’s aunt, Gloria Ramirez, told KTLA that the family is in shock, that his death seems surreal.
“Nowadays, it’s another world,” Ramirez’s cousin, Hector Pedraza, told KTLA. “It’s getting crazy every day. Only by standing there, waiting for somebody, they can shoot you. That’s not fair.”
Family members say the 17-year-old high school student was trying to land a job so that he could help out his mother, and that he was a good kid, not involved with the wrong crowd. A GoFundMe campaign has been organized by the victim’s family.
The suspected shooter, described only as a Hispanic man in his early 20s, was last seen running away on 7th Street.
“Somebody saw something. Somebody heard something,” Pedraza said. “I just went over there to put some candles in the neighborhood. It looks like it’s not that bad. It’s a good neighborhood, so somebody probably saw something or can give a better description.”
Anyone with additional information about the shooting is asked to call the LAPD’s West Bureau Homicide Division at 213-382-9470.