VAN NUYS (CNS) - Authorities today identified a murder and robbery suspect who was killed in an officer-involved shooting in Van Nuys.
Lazzeri Frazier Jr., 21, of Van Nuys was shot about 10:25 a.m. Wednesday near Kester Avenue and Burbank Boulevard and died at the scene, according to the coroner's office and the Los Angeles Police Department. No officers were hurt.
Plainclothes officers were conducting surveillance on the suspect in the 5400 block of Kester Avenue when the shooting occurred, according to LAPD Sgt. Barry Montgomery.
“They attempted to take him into custody and it simply went really bad ...,” Montgomery said.
A gun was recovered at the scene, he said.
Frazier was wanted in connection with a robbery about 11 p.m. Tuesday at a liquor store near the intersection of Kester Avenue and Burbank Boulevard and the shooting death of a 52-year-old Panorama City man around 12:25 p.m. Monday outside an apartment complex in the 14600 block of Burbank Boulevard, near Van Nuys Boulevard.
Montgomery told reporters at the OIS scene that investigators had “been scouring the area, talking to witnesses, and looking at evidence and they believe the suspect involved in this officer-involved shooting is the suspect responsible for both of those crimes.”
The homicide victim, identified by the county coroner's office as Antonio Rodriguez, died at the scene of the noon-hour shooting on Monday.
A gofundme page started by his daughter Betzabeth Centeno had raised $2,280 toward a $10,000 goal as of late Thursday morning.
Rodriguez, a maintenance worker, arrived in the U.S. from Mexico in 2001 and was killed while on a lunch break from his place of employment, according to his daughter. Rodriguez is also survived by his wife.