Police Say Security Camera Caught Road Rage Incident That Precipitated Deadly Shooting At Compton College
COMPTON (CBSLA) — The parents of a man who was killed following an alleged road rage incident in Compton over the weekend were at a loss Monday, trying to figure out why someone would fatally shoot their son.
"He's very friendly, very sweet guy," one neighbor said of Francisco Penado, Jr.
Penado, 44, of Long Beach was killed Saturday evening at Compton College following what police believe was a case of road rage.
Deputies from the Compton station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. were responding to a report of a hit-and-run on the 2100 block of Santa Fe Avenue Saturday around 6:50 p.m. when the call was updated to a call of a gunshot victim.
Penado was found at Compton College located at 1111 E. Artesia Blvd. with a gunshot wound to his head, around the corner from where the alleged hit-and-run occurred. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses told police Penado, who was driving a Toyota Previa, got into an altercation with a male in a white car. They said Penado and the suspect were slamming into each other with their vehicles on Santa Fe Avenue.
When Penado made a U-turn, he hit two other vehicles. No one was injured as a result of those collisions.
At this point, the driver of the white car fled the scene, witnesses said.
Penado then allegedly hit the curb and ran out of the van, climbing the fence onto the property of nearby Compton College.
Witnesses told police the man who had fled the scene then drove up to the fence on Artesia Boulevard, got out of car and approached Penado. They said the two men got into an argument, after which a gunshot was heard.
Penado's father told CBS2 he saw his son around 5 p.m. Saturday and found out about his death three hours later.
No gun was found at the scene, and the suspect remains at large.
Homicide investigators said there is security video of the road rage incident but none of the actual shooting. They said they were not ready to release the footage to the public.
