Student charged with killing instructor at security guard training class
Law Thien Huynh
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A 22-year-old student was charged today with murdering his instructor at a security guard training class in downtown Los Angeles.
Gardena resident Law Thien Huynh is accused in Wednesday afternoon's shooting death of 44-year-old Roberto Herrera at the Coast Career Institute at 1340 S. Hill St., near Pico Boulevard.
He was scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse.
Huynh—who was among 13 students attending a 24-week vocational class to become a security guard—briefly left the classroom, then returned about 4 p.m. with a handgun, pushed or kicked the door open and opened fire on Herrera, according to police.
The instructor died at the scene.
Huynh allegedly tossed the gun inside the classroom and then walked outside the building, where he was taken into custody without incident after lighting up a cigarette.
Witnesses told reporters that the victim was well-liked and had often complimented Huynh for his classroom work.
Herrera, who was engaged to be married, had worked in the security industry and taught at the school as a side job for three years.
Prosecutors were asking that Huynh's bail be set at $2 million. If convicted, he could face up to 50 years to life in state prison, according to the District Attorney's Office.
George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who says he was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot an unarmed teenager in Sanford, Fla., was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday, April 11, more than six weeks after the fatal encounter.
Zimmerman has been arrested and was in the custody of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as of Wednesday night.
INGLEWOOD, Calif.—A $10,000 reward will be offered today for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever killed a 28-year-old man in Inglewood as he shielded his 8-year-old son from gunfire.
Fredrick Martin, 28, was mortally wounded April 3 in front of his home on West 109th Street, just west of Crenshaw Boulevard.
“Fredrick Martin was killed shielding (his) son from gunfire,” said family spokeswoman Jasmyne Cannick, adding that his family is now “on a mission to find his killers.”
PALMDALE, Calif.—The man who was fatally shot after allegedly taking a gun from a sheriff's deputy in Palmdale was identified today by authorities.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Authorities announced a $50,000 reward for help in solving the killing of a man who was gunned down two years ago today in the southeast Los Angeles area.
Steven Kelly, 42, was fatally shot about 9 p.m. July 10, 2010, near East 109th Place and Willowbrook Avenue, the Los Angeles Police Department reported.
The reward was announced at a news conference this morning near the crime scene.
COMPTON, Calif.—Bail was set at $3 million today for a 15-year-old boy charged as an adult in a June 4 shooting that killed a 14-month-old boy and wounded his father in Watts.
Donald Ray Dokins made his initial court appearance this afternoon but did not enter a plea. His arraignment was postponed to July 16 in Compton Superior Court.
Dokins faces one count of murder stemming from Angel Cortez’s slaying and one count of attempted murder for allegedly shooting the boy’s father, Mauro, in the shoulder.
