A vendor running a makeshift food stand was shot and
killed in the South Park section of South Los Angeles, police said today.
The victim was identified by the coroner’s office as 30-year-old Alvaro Mata-Rizo of Bell Gardens.
One of several suspects approached him about 11 p.m. at the intersection of East 51st Street and McKinley Avenue and fired a single shot, Los Angeles Police Sgt. James Townsend said.
Police were investigating robbery as a possible motive in the shooting.
Mata-Rizo was known to locals as a regular at the location, Townsend said.
He was the married father of a 2-year-old boy and worked six days a week, sometimes giving free food to those who could not pay, ABC7 reported from the scene.
Detectives were canvassing the area hoping security or surveillance cameras captured the killing, Townsend said.