Hikers found a man dead with a gunshot wound on a trail in Eaton Canyon Sunday morning, spurring a homicide investigation, officials said.
Deputies responded to the Eaton Canyon Nature Center around 6:30 a.m. to find the man down on the trail near the center’s parking lot, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.
The man had suffered at least one gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A handgun was also found at the scene, but it remained unknown “if this shooting is criminal or accidental in nature,” the Sheriff’s Department said.
The Eaton Canyon Natural Area Park and Nature Center is a natural preserve at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. Officials said the body was found near Altadena Drive in the Pasadena area.
The investigation remains ongoing and no further details were immediately available.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Those who prefer to provide information anonymously can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.