Woman killed in West Covina home invasion
A woman who was on the phone with a 9-1-1 dispatcher was apparently shot to death by the burglars she was reporting, officials said.
The shooting, which occurred about 11:40 a.m in the 19700 block of Cameron shocked residents of a quiet and upscale known for its large and often unique homes.
Detectives suspect three Hispanic men seen fleeing the scene may be responsible for the shooting. There was no further description of the man. The woman's name has not yet been released.
West Covina police and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputies closed off a portion of busy Cameron avenue and temporarily placed two West Covina schools on lock down.
The home is in an unincorporated of West Covina that, while not as ill-defined as the No Man's Land in Monrovia, has its share of dispatch problems.
Sheriff's deputies from the Walnut Sheriff's Station patrol the neighborhood from Grand Avenue west about 500 yards. Then the neighborhood becomes city territory. Traffic patrols on Grand are done by the CHP, while traffic on Cameron is handled by the West Covina PD. Both the LASO and the WCPD received calls to their dispatch centers regarding the shooting and its aftermath.
Its unknown if there was any confusion surrounding in whose territory the crime occurred; and whether or not that delayed any initial response. West Covina police Lt. Dan Brooks said he believes the 9-1-1 system would have automatically routed any calls from the home to the sheriff's department.
Meanwhile the sheriff's Headquarters Bureau claims the woman's initial 9-1-1 call was received by West Covina Police.
Comments
High Noon in West Covina.
A woman in a private residence in West Covina was SHOT TO DEATH yesterday at 12:15 PM (15 minutes past noon) it was daylight and in a nice area of the city. It happened while she was dialing 911. The home was an upscale fenced and gated residence. Now someone should ask the hard questions!
1. If she had a gun, and maintained in accordance with the laws of the State of California could she have defended her self.
NO, She would have to unlocked the gun, and the located the ammunition, and loaded the gun………longer that it takes to call 911.
The people we elected have a GREEN ZONE mentality, and they live in the GREEN ZONE, but even an upscale residence in West Covina California is not in the GREEN ZONE.
Our legislator have made it impossible for a citizen to defend themselves from being murdered in their own home. They have made you a criminal if you have your gun loaded and ready to defend yourself. Now only outlaws have guns, and we are all rabbits.
Look at the facts, in the States where people may have guns and carry them GUN RELATED VIOLENT CRIME had gone down. In the States where guns are outlawed GUN RELATED VIOLENT CRIME has gone UP. Washington DC has the toughest gun laws in the US, and the law in being changeling in the Supreme Court of the US NOW. The GUN VIOLENT CRIME in Washington DC has gone up since they passed the law outlawing handguns more that 15 years ago.
In Florida, where you can carry a gun, the GUN VIOLENT CRIME has gone down.
So now we have a real incident of a KILLING that could have been prevented with a GUN, and not a phone.
FACT ---- she was SHOT while on the phone with the 911 operator, and the dispatcher heard the sound of the shots.
The police arrived but did not find the killers, and the searched for hours, with people, cars and helicopters well past 6 PM. The bad guys got away, and may never be found.
You can bet the gun they used is not registered, and was not purchased legally, and it was not maintained legally. The California Gun law did not prevent this crime, they enabled it.
No I don’t advocate everyone carrying a loaded gun, like Arizona, but if a person is capable of and trained to use a firearm, they should not be prohibited from being able to defend them self with it.
The laws need to enable self defense and not enable murder.
The criminals know that we can’t defend our selves and the incident of yesterday will become an all too common occurrence if we don’t get the message to our legislators. They have gone too far, and have put all of us not in the GREEN ZONE in jeopardy.
The economy is in trouble, and crime increased when that happens.
We can’t have the means to protect ourselves that is adequate in the presence of a gun.
The police can’t get to you in time if you call 911, they can only listen to the shots being fired.
An old saying that comes to mind:
When rabbits shoot back there will be fewer rabbit hunters.
Write your legislator, and tell them we want the ability to have a gun and be able to protest ourselves.
Or you can wait until your neighborhood is the subject of a 6 hours search, and learn that the killers may have run thru your back yard, and then gotten away. Not easy to sleep that night, or perhaps the next as well.
Posted by: George McLachlan | March 20, 2008 3:54 PM
My good friend sold this house to the couple. I shudder to think this could have been her and that I have stood many times in that kitchen where that woman's life ended so violently. Although rumors are starting to swirl around the husband and a hit so maybe it wasn't so random after all?
Posted by: Denise | April 3, 2008 3:13 PM