Raul Lopez, Cook at 'Hoagies and Wings' in Sherman Oaks, Murdered for Trying to Kick Out Customers

By Simone Wilson Mon., Jul. 2 2012 at 3:45 PM

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Tragedy at Hoagies and Wings.

Update: New surveillance video shows two suspects entering the sandwich joint, where they would allegedly spit racist comments at Hoagies and Wings' Latino staff.

A scuffle between Hoagies and Wings chef Raul Lopez and a group of reportedly "rowdy" customers turned ugly last Friday night when they shot Lopez, a Hollywood resident, in the chest. He was declared dead soon after at a nearby hospital.

Hoagies and Wings is located along a nice stretch of Ventura Boulevard -- one that was reportedly bustling with nightlife when Lopez was murdered around 11:10 p.m. According to NBC LA, "dozens of people saw the shooting..."

"... including children and teenagers."

That will certainly make the LAPD's manhunt easier. After gathering witness accounts, investigators are searching for five black men who fled the scene in a dark SUV -- possibly a Cadillac Escalade. The shooter himself is "a skinny, roughly 5-foot-6-inch black man in his 20s," Van Nuys police tell City News Service.

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One witness in particular (who wishes to stay anonymous so the perps don't come back and shoot him as well) says in an NBC LA video interview that he saw Lopez and the customers "fencing with chairs" before the shooting.

Police now believe the Hoagies and Wings employee was trying to shoo them from the restaurant.

Another witness turned out to be pretty high-profile. Alex Mandell, L.A. actor and son of Howie Mandell, Tweeted from the scene:

Someone just got shot at the intersection outside the bar I'm at in Sherman Oaks!
— Alex Mandel (@AlexMandel) June 30, 2012

Ya we saw the Black Escalade drive away RT @karldotcom: @AlexMandel black escalade is the suspect vehicle
— Alex Mandel (@AlexMandel) June 30, 2012

@karldotcom one of my friends was standing across the street from the shooting, he said it definitely wasn't a drive by..He saw the shooters
— Alex Mandel (@AlexMandel) June 30, 2012

Lopez was identified by NBC LA as a beloved father to five children, who range in age from 2 years old to 15 years old.

[@simone_electra / swilson@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

Hoagies and Wings, Raul Lopez, Sherman Oaks, shooting

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Virginia2525

Horrible world we live in, people getting shot and killed over nothing. May God open doors to the wife and kids of this poor man who got killed working an honest living to support his family. Hope something positive happens for the wife and kids left behind.

James Murphy

The victim left a wife and several children behind. Hasn't anyone established a fund for them? Tell me where I can send his family a check.

Virginia2525

Good question James..........Anyone know how to help the wife and kids ?

Ljp2664

You're retarded

JoeS

1 Like

COWARDLY N*GGERS- took five of them punkazz betch boys and a gun to settle up with one Mexican? Sounds like the usual, when the knee-gro can't win the fight quick, they usually run or wait for their boys to step in and save their coward azz.

Jelly

You are an idiot.

Jessica Beaulieu0

Not only were they fencing w chairs they forget to mention the cook was drinking and started the arguement. One of the black guys threw a chair. That's when the cook pulled a butcher knife out and and grabbed the chair. Both parties could have handled it differently. I was there. The arguement wasn't over a long wait time. The cook was making fun of them and mocking their conversation. To me it looked like self defense because the cook was charging them with a huge butcher knife. I guess police forgot that 1 detail. I bet when toxicology report comes out it will have that the cook was drinking

Virginia2525

You're a moron Jessica ............

Swishblaze23

The restaurant owner wasn’t too smart..."fencing with chairs"... are you serious!!!! To take a persons life over a disagreement is truly stupidity! Sad. Someone may go to jail – stupid ass did it at 11:00 pm on a Friday night. All you ignorant racists should smoke some weed and chill. Its not about color – its about education! Peace! .