AZUSA — Two men died Sunday after a gunbattle in an unincorporated neighborhood near Azusa, authorities said.
The names of the dead men, who sheriff’s officials described as 30 and 27 years old, were not released.
The shooting was reported about 6:20 p.m. on Banewell Avenue, just north of Arrow Highway.
The 30-year-old man had just stepped out of his home when he was confronted by the younger man, Lt. David Coleman of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said.
“The two were involved in an argument,” he said, adding that the younger man “pulled out a handgun and shot” the older man.
Family members of the wounded man were driving him to a hospital when responding police officers and sheriff’s deputies stopped the car at Enid Avenue and Arrow Highway, Coleman said.
Paramedics were summoned, and the 30-year-old man was pronounced dead, investigators said.
As officials searched the area, they found the suspected gunman, also suffering from a gunshot wound, in the driver’s seat of a Mercury sedan, which was still near the scene of the original shooting. A handgun was recovered from his car.
The younger man was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where he died just after 8 p.m., authorities said.
“We don’t know how he was shot,” Coleman said.
The older man may have returned fire in self-defense, or another unknown person might have shot the younger man, he said.
A second gun was recovered, but Coleman declined to say exactly where it was found.
A motive in the shooting remained under investigation, he added.
Juan Enriquez, 56, who lives nearby, said he was two blocks away when he heard what sounded like eight or nine gunshots in rapid succession.
When he drove toward the shots to see what had happened, he said he found police and sheriff’s deputies swarming the area.
Both Enid and Banewell avenues remained closed Sunday night as homicide detectives continues their investigation.

PHOTO by staff photographer Watchara Phomicinda