Mystery: Elderly Homeless Amputee Shot, Police Baffled After Seeing Suspects
The majority of reported crimes committed against homeless people in Los Angeles are ones of violence.
And what happened on Tuesday night was no exception, according to KABC-TV.
A 75-year-old homeless man — who is also a double amputee in a wheelchair — was shot outside of a McDonald’s in South Los Angeles on the 1700 block of West Century Boulevard, according to the New York Post.
The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where he is now in critical, but stable, condition.
The suspects are two females: one getaway driver and one shooter, according to the Post.
The two females allegedly drove to the McDonald’s. Once there, one of them got out of the car, fired a shot at the man’s head, returned to the vehicle and fled, according to police.
“And we’re asking for prayer for these two young women who enacted this violent crime,” Rev. Douglas Nelson of True LA Church told KABC-TV. “Because obviously something spiritually is wrong with them.”
As of Thursday morning, authorities still do not have any additional information on the suspects, and the motivation behind the suspects’ actions remains unclear.
What is clear, however, is how this affects the homeless community in Los Angeles.
“They’re taking stuff away from people that are … they’re innocent,” Richard Padilla, a homeless man, told KABC-TV.
The outlet reported that 82 percent of all crimes involving the homeless is classified as violent.
“It’s not safe out here, there is nothing safe about this place,” said Scott Carter, another homeless man in South Los Angeles.
Ollie Bradley, a man who runs a neighborhood food bank, stated that many homeless people are living in constant fear and oppression of violent crimes.
“They’re scared,” Bradley said. “It’s not enough security for them. They need to be secured just like anybody else. They’re just outside, not inside.”
But some homeless individuals have found a way to help alleviate their fear of being a victim of violent crime.
The solution? Staying in groups.
“They don’t see a victim here,” said David Rugher, another homeless man that resides in Los Angeles.
“We’re supporting each other,” claimed Mohamed Jami, who is also homeless.
CORRECTION, May 25, 2022: When published, this article’s headline stated that the shooting victim had died. He was, at the time of writing, alive but in critical condition. We have corrected the headline.
In addition, the article stated that “majority of reported crimes committed against homeless people in Los Angeles are ones of violence.” There is no way to actually know that; we should have said that the majority of reported crimes committed against homeless people in Los Angeles are violent. It’s likely that many nonviolent crimes go unreported, thus making these statistics unreliable indicators of actual criminal occurrences.
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