Fashion expert gunned down

This comes from reporter Amanda Baumfeld. It's the details of a shooting that occurred Wednesday afternoon in South El Monte:

SOUTH EL MONTE - Detectives are searching for a suspect who gunned down and killed a businessman in his office Wednesday, officials said.

Lam Michael, 39, was shot several times when a male suspect walked into his office at Fashion Icon Inc., a garment business at 2459 Merced Ave., said Lt. David Coleman of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The shooting occurred around 2:30 p.m. and Michael was pronounced dead at the scene about 20 minutes later, officials said.

"We don't know the cause or reason for the shooting," said Coleman. "It could be a myriad of reasons."

The suspect is described as an Asian male, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, between the age of 20 and 25, according to Coleman. Police believe he ran from the scene.

There were about 20 workers inside Fashion Icon at the time of the killing, Coleman said. No one else was injured.

Repeated calls to the business for comment went unanswered Thursday.

It does not appear to be a gang-related shooting, Coleman said.

"He was just a businessman who was shot," Coleman said. "It is probably safe to assume it was related to some specific incident."

Some evidence has been recovered from the scene, as well as surveillance video, Coleman said.

It was business as usual Thursday afternoon on Merced Avenue where the garment manufacturer is among a variety of companies. The only remnant of a crime scene was tattered yellow police tape behind.

Many workers at surrounding businesses were unaware of the crime.

Oscar Serrano, owner of Art & Design Installations Inc. located down the block, said he heard there was shooting but knew no details.

"It's not a good neighborhood but it's not a real bad neighborhood," Serrano said. "It's strange that the shooting happened during the day, you normally hear about them at night."