When Lady Gaga’s dogwalker was shot in Hollywood last week as he tried to fend off assailants who stole two of the singer’s French bulldogs, the attack not only made international headlines, but fit into a local crime pattern raising alarm among Los Angeles police officials: More robbery victims being shot.
Calling it a “disturbing trend,” LAPD Asst. Chief Beatrice Girmala told the L.A. Police Commission this week that 18 robbery victims had been shot in L.A. through Tuesday, compared with just one such shooting during the same period last year. Of the 18 shootings, 14 occurred on city streets.
“This is extremely concerning to the department and to the public,” Girmala said.
The increase comes amid a more general surge in serious violence in the city, where higher rates of shootings and homicides that began last year amid turmoil brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have carried over into 2021.
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