LAPD is looking for a suspect in the fatal shooting yesterday of an employee at the Shoe Palace at 7725 Melrose Ave. According to news reports, the shooting took place outside the store when the victim, 26-year-old Jayren Bradford, a store employee, attempted to intervene in a dispute among a group of men and women during a shoe raffle in front of the store at around 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to a press release issued by LAPD Wilshire Division, officers responded to a call of a shooting with a victim down at Melrose Avenue and Genesee Avenue on Wednesday, August 11, 2021, at 12:29 p.m.
“Officers arrived and saw an adult victim down in the street with a gunshot wound. Officers rendered aid to the victim. The Los Angeles Fire Department transported the victim to a local hospital where the victim succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.
Officers learned that there was a shoe raffle in front of the Shoe Palace, 7725 Melrose Avenue. A group of males and females had a dispute. The male victim arrived at the location and a male Hispanic suspect shot the victim. The suspect left northbound on Genesee Avenue and possibly left in a dark sedan.”
KTLA News reported that cell phone video shows Bradford being swarmed by people before someone opens fire. According to witnesses, Bradford was trying to intervene when he was shot:
“Jay came from his car and he confronted them saying, ‘What’s the problem? What’s the deal?’ Then everybody shifted their aggression towards Jay,” said Keyshawn Williams, a colleague of Bradford’s at the store. “And they were here with other friends, so they all surrounded him and that’s when he was shot.”
Responding officers say they found a man in his mid-20s in the street suffering from a gunshot wound. Paramedics transported him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“My one colleague was there right in front of him. He was trying to help him, trying to stop the blood,” Williams said. “But it was fatal.”
Bradford lived down the street and had only been working at the store a few months. It was a job he enjoyed while pursuing his dream of becoming a musician, Williams said.
“He always made me feel welcome, and like this was somewhere you want to be,” he said. “He was just a good guy. He was an outgoing peer who always wanted to make friends.”
Later in the day, KTLA News aired the story below, showing some of the cell phone footage and the emotional reaction of community members to killing. A memorial has been set up at the scene with candles and photos of Bradford.
In response to the event, the most recent among a number of recent murders in the area, Melrose Action, a local neighborhood watch group, tweeted early this morning:
“We’ve set up A TOWN HALL meeting on ZOOM set for TUESDAY 8/17 AT 7pm – let’s pack this meeting – demand action from City Leaders and let’s restore sanity to our neighborhood. This got to stop! Enough already. Add your name – send email to [email protected]. “
At last night’s monthly meeting of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, LAPD Wilshire Division Senior Lead Officer Dave Cordova confirmed the murder, saying it happened at about 12:25 p.m. at the Shoe Palace shoe store at Melrose and Genesee. Cordova was unable to provide further details at the time, but he said police do have a number of leads, thanks to both witnesses and video footage (as shown above), and hope to make an arrest soon.
Meanwhile, the LA Times reported that police are looking for a gunman in dark clothing who fired the lone shot, or anyone else with information about the shooting. Detectives also asked the public to watch for the getaway car, a silver Toyota Camry with a temporary license plate, BC10D32.
Anyone with information about the case is urged to call the LAPD’s West Bureau homicide investigators at (213) 382-9470. During nonbusiness hours or on weekends, call (877) 527-3247. Anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477 or submitted online at lacrimestoppers.org.
