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Man Fatally Wounded While Shielding Son From Gunfire In Inglewood

INGLEWOOD (CBS) — A man died after using his body to shield his 8-year-old son from gunfire was identified Thursday.

Frederick Martin, 28, was fatally wounded in a shooting Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the 3200 block of West 109th Street, according to the Inglewood Police Department. Martin and his son were cleaning up the family's garage when two men with gun walked up to them.

"All of a sudden I was on the phone, I hear five shots," grandmother Darley Tankey said. "And I ran to the door, and he's standing there and he says, 'call 911, I've been shot."

Martin died later at a hospital, coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter said.

As the men opened fire, Martin turned to block his son, cradling him with his body to shield him from the gunfire. Martin was hit in the abdomen and upper torso, and his son was grazed in the ankle.

Martin's son told CBS2/KCAL9's Melissa McCarty that his father is his hero.

Tankey criticized Inglewood Police's response to the shooting, saying that Martin's mother was physically restrained as if she were a suspect.

"That's a mother and her child...why you got her on the ground with your knee on her back?" Tankey said.

"Our officers had no way of knowing who she was, or what her relationship was to the victims," Inglewood Police Lt. James Madia said. "They followed standard procedure by physically restraining someone from going into our crime scene."

Police have few leads in the shooting and no motive.

(©2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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