5 People Die in 24 Hours of Violence

Five people were killed in Los Angeles over a 24-hour period, including a man who was shot during the attempted robbery of a North Hollywood head shop and the owner and a customer of a downtown hardware store, police said Wednesday.

Claro Cortez, 44, of Los Angeles, the owner of Merces Hardware in the 4500 block of South Main Street, died in an exchange of gunfire with three robbery suspects at 1:20 p.m. Tuesday, Los Angeles Police spokesman Jack Richter said.

Customer Vincent Fredericks, 62, of Los Angeles died at a local hospital after being critically wounded, police said.

Police responding to the store after hearing gunshots saw a car speeding away.

They arrested three men on suspicion of murder: Jorge Martinez, 29; Alejandro Viveros, 26; and Jorge Sandoval, 29, all of Los Angeles.

A replica firearm and two other guns believed to the murder weapons were seized by police.

In North Hollywood, a man died as he tried to rob a head shop in the 12700 block of Sherman Way, according to Det. Mike Coffey.

Brij Mehra, 27, of Santa Monica knocked on the shop’s front door about 12:30 a.m. after closing time and told the owner that he wanted to buy a crack pipe, Coffey said.

Once inside, Mehra pulled out a .45-caliber handgun and demanded money from the cash register.

“As the suspect was looking at items in a display case in the rear of the business, the three people inside tried to make a run for it,” Coffey said.

“We believe one of them grabbed a shotgun on the way out and shot the suspect dead at the front of the business,” Coffey said.

Investigators said the man’s handgun was stolen from his girlfriend during a domestic dispute two hours before the attempted robbery.

None of the witnesses would admit firing the shotgun, police said.

The incident is under investigation and will be reviewed the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Across town, police were called at 12:45 a.m. to the 1000 block of Electric Avenue in Venice, where they discovered the body of a 30-year-old restaurant employee in his car.

The dead man was identified as Michael Alan Treanor of Los Angeles.

Pacific Division homicide investigators said they have no motive or suspects in the case.

About 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, police responded to a report of a body dumped on a freeway offramp in Lake View Terrace.

The unidentified man, who appeared to have been stabbed, was found at the Wheatland Avenue offramp of the eastbound Foothill Freeway.

Police said they have no suspects or leads in that case.