Man Held in Shooting Death of Co-Worker

VAN NUYS —  An ongoing dispute between two managers at a newspaper distribution warehouse ended in the shooting death of one of the men early Tuesday morning, police said.

Oscar Melendez, 38, of Palmdale, was arrested by Los Angeles police and booked on suspicion of murder. Melendez allegedly shot and killed Moises Escobar, 39, of Reseda, who worked with him as a night shift manager at the plant. Melendez is being held on $1 million bail.

Police said the shooting occurred about 2:45 a.m. at the T Cook Distributors warehouse in the 6800 block of Hayvenhurst Avenue. Both men were reporting to work when Melendez shot Escobar once in the upper torso with a handgun, said Los Angeles Police Det. Al Aldaz of the Van Nuys Division. Another employee found Escobar’s body and called police.

Aldaz said the suspect was at the plant when authorities arrived but pretended he had just arrived with other employees.

“He tried to blend in,” Aldaz said.

The two men had reportedly been arguing over work-related issues for the past two months, but police refused to elaborate on the origins of the dispute. Aldaz said the two men had a physical altercation Sunday that may have contributed to the shooting two days later. Police couldn’t say whether the fight had been reported to the employees’ supervisors.

Both men held similar positions at the company, which is under contract to distribute the Los Angeles Daily News, although Melendez reportedly outranked the victim, police said. Escobar, a native of El Salvador, had three children, including a 19-year-old stepson.