LOS ANGELES—An employee at a Taco Bell in South Los Angeles was shot dead by a man in a black sedan who tried to pay for his meal with a counterfeit bill at the restaurant’s drive-through window, authorities said Jan. 9.
Police were dispatched shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday to the 9900 block of Avalon Boulevard, said Officer Norma Eisenman of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations Division.
The victim was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene, Eisenman said.
CBS2 identified the victim as 41-year-old Alejandro Garcia, who was working with his 19-year-old son.
The son was the one who denied the counterfeit money, according to CBS2.
“We are shocked and saddened to hear that this happened,” Taco Bell said in a statement. “Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of the team member in this difficult time. We understand the owner and operator of this location is working with the local authorities in their investigation and has reached out directly to the affected family to offer support.”
Breanna Leonard, who lives near the Taco Bell, told CBS2, “It’s not safe nowhere, no more. That’s somebody’s child. It’s over food. Oh my gosh. I just don’t know. There’s no point in taking somebody’s life, over a fake $100 bill.”
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore is calling for people who know who shot and killed an employee at a Taco Bell in South Los Angeles to “step forward.”
“We can not become desensitized to this violence,” Moore tweeted Sunday, calling the killing senseless. “There are those who know who did this. Humanity demands that you step forward.”
