Newly obtained surveillance video documents three men attacking and killing a transgender woman in what police now believe is an East Hollywood robbery gone bad.
The transgender individual was walking down the street early Thursday morning when the three men allegedly attacked the person, took her purse and shot her in the head as she ran away. The video shows the shooting, although KCAL 9 News played the video only up until the shot was fired.
An auto body shop across the street from where the attack occurred caught the event on surveillance video that CBS Los Angeles obtained.
After being shot, the victim in the video stumbled further across the street and fell over. A bystander that stopped to help afterward was too late to save the victim.
Police report that the three alleged perpetrators are Hispanic men in their 20s, and the victim is described as a transgender woman in her 40s, according to the KCAL 9 report. The three men are reportedly still on the loose.
Police have attributed the events to a robbery gone bad and not a hate crime, although a local LGBT activist talked with CBS LA and refuted this. He insisted rather that the killing was a hate crime, motivated by the victim being transgender.
Some local individuals have left items and words in sidewalk chalk as a memorial to the victim. Los Angeles’s LGBT Center was reportedly planning a vigil that was held Friday night.
Anyone with information regarding the crime is encouraged to call the Los Angles Police Department.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
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