A man who died after being shot on a Metro train in Los Angeles on Friday has been identified.
The shooting, which took place around 7:22 p.m. on the E line near the La Cienega/Jefferson station in L.A.’s West Adams neighborhood, claimed the life of 38-year-old Juan Garcia, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed.
Responding officers found Garcia with a gunshot wound to the head; he was not conscious or breathing at the time, police said Friday evening. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The preliminary investigation revealed that there was “some kind of argument” between a group of men on the street level before they all ran up the stairs and boarded the train, LAPD Captain Jamie Bennett said.
Witnesses to the shooting recalled seeing three men chasing the victim on the platform followed by the victim getting onto the train as the doors were closing.
“I saw three guys banging on the door screaming ‘Snitch, snitch!” the witness, who did not wish to be identified, told KTLA. “The train car ends up taking off [but] the next thing you know, it stops because the trains normally stop and let the late people on the train.”
“But in this case, those people ended up pulling out a gun and shooting a guy point blank,” the witness said.
All three suspects were described as Hispanic men who fled the area on skateboards. As of early Saturday afternoon, they remained on the loose.
Friday’s fatal shooting comes amid a string of violent incidents at Metro properties across the Los Angeles area; in March, a transient armed with an airsoft gun hijacked a Metro bus and crashed into the Ritz-Carlton in downtown L.A.
On May 5, the driver of a DASH bus – which is operated by the city of Los Angeles – was brutally attacked by a homeless woman in an assault that was caught on camera.
Eight days later, a woman was attacked at the Vermont/Athens Metro station and two juveniles were taken into custody after a fight broke out on a Metro bus in Glendale within hours of each other.
Three days after that, a Metro bus passenger was shot dead hours after the MTA held a news conference on transit safety.
In an attempt to curb the violence, Metro officials announced the authorization of an “immediate surge” of law enforcement to patrol buses, trains and stations to address drivers’ and riders’ concerns in May.
To view the latest Metro public safety data, click here.