The Los Angeles City Council approved a $50,000 reward today aimed at spurring leads that help authorities track down, arrest and convict whoever fatally shot a 33-year-old man in the Palms area last week.
Christopher John Paul was walking back to his apartment at 2:30 p.m. April 22 when an assailant approached and shot him from behind. The shooting occurred a week after a series of shootings in the same general area, including gunfire at a park that left one man dead and another wounded.
LAPD Lt. John Ratke said they have no witnesses and there is “absolutely no known motive for why this person was killed.”
“He was a very innocent man, he went to church — daily Mass at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Culver City,” the lieutenant said.
Ratlke said Paul had gone out to buy coffee and as he was going back home, “someone followed him into the alley.”
Councilman Paul Koretz said that Paul’s death does not seem to have any connection to the string of violence that occurred the week before.
“The other cases — we have suspects in custody, we have leads — this one was different because it was a completely innocuous gentleman,” Koretz said. “We believe there is somebody out there who knows about this, and we hope this significant reward will bring them out of the woodwork.”
Koretz said the shootings are not characteristic of the Palms area, which has been “a pretty safe haven from violent crime over the years,” adding the community “is not willing to accept this deadly risk and murder in its midst.”
