Security Guard Class Instructor Fatally Shot by Student Downtown, LAPD Says
By Dennis Romero and Simone Wilson
coastcareer.com A generic photo of security guard training from Coast Career Institute.
Updated after the jump: The victim has been identified; the suspect has been charged.
An instructor who was teaching the finer points of how to be a security guard was fatally shot by one of his students at Coast Career Institute vocational school downtown, according to reports.
The shooting at 1354 S. Hill St. was reported shortly after 4 p.m., police said.
According to KNX 1070 Newsradio, it went down like this:
The suspect, one of 13 students, went for a bathroom break and opened fire on the instructor when he returned.
The suspect then went out for a smoke and, when cops rolled up and ordered him to hit the ground, he refused. He finished his cigarette then surrendered.
Update: LAPD tells the Informer that the unidentified 22-year-old shot his 44-year-old teacher after an argument at Coast Career Institute on Hill Street.
Lieutenant Rick Banks from LAPD media relations says the student became involved in an argument with his male teacher before he left the classroom. When the student returned, he was holding a gun -- and, according to witnesses, used it to shoot the teacher several times.
Update No. 2: The LAPD late Wednesday named the alleged shooter as 22-year-old Law Thien Huynh of Gardena. He was slated to be booked on suspicion of murder, according to the department.
Authorities say the victim was a security professional who had taught at the school for three years.
The alleged shooter pushed or kicked in the door and opened fire, and the instructor sustained multiple gunshot wounds, according to the LAPD. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
"Crisis intervention specialists from the Office of the Mayor were called to assist the witnesses in dealing the stress and trauma of the incident," according to an LAPD statement.
The victim had yet to be identified.
Update No. 3: A man named Luat Thien Huynh, whom friends seem to call "Luke," has a MySpace page. The age (22) and location (Gardena) seem to match the suspect's. Luke didn't appear to be too active on the site.
MySpace Luat Thien Huynh.
His featured update was from 2009 and states: "Luat waiting on some n---- for a reply i think that n----s kute girl n---- fyi."
The URL for the page is "frowningvietguy."
In photos posted at the site he's never once seen smiling.
Update No. 4: The District Attorney's office on Friday afternoon identified the victim as Roberto Herrera, 44.
Huynh was charged with murder and gun-use allegations and was expected to be arraigned Friday afternoon, according to a D.A.'s statement. He was being held in lieu of $2 million bail and could see 50 years behind bars if convicted.
The D.A.'s office said Herrera was shot "multiple times in the head."
First posted at 6:06 p.m. Wednesday
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