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LANCASTER (CNS) - Authorities today identified a man who was killed in a shooting at a Lancaster restaurant involving a security guard that left the guard and two other people wounded.
The shooting was reported at about 12:10 a.m. Monday in the 42100 block of Sierra Highway, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Joseph Quirola, 51, of Palmdale died at the scene, the Los Angeles County coroner's office reported.
Deputies went to the location after a caller said a person inside the restaurant had shot at security guards and was possibly still inside the building.
Arriving deputies found a 44-year-old security guard suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper body, and a restaurant employee suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper body in front of the restaurant, the sheriff's department reported.
The security guard told deputies the shooter was still inside.
“Deputies attempted to communicate with the suspect inside, to no avail,'' a sheriff's statement said. “Believing this could now be a barricaded situation, our Special Enforcement Bureau was notified and responded to the location.
“SEB arrived and determined the possible suspect was still inside the location,'' the statement said. “They were able to make contact with a female victim inside the location prior to making entry.''
The SEB units entered and found Quirola suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper body, and a 43-year-old woman with a gunshot wound “to a lower extremity,'' according to the LASD.
The woman and the male restaurant employee were treated at a hospital for wounds described as not life-threatening, and the security guard was hospitalized in serious condition, the LASD reported.
A news videographer at the scene reported that the incident started with an altercation inside the Culichi Town restaurant and that a man pulled out a gun and got into a shootout with a security guard.
Anyone with information on the shooting was asked to contact the LASD Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.
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