Police are looking for a gunman who killed a homeless man in Venice Beach during an argument.
Los Angeles police were alerted to a shooting at the Westminster Dog Park about 10:20 p.m. Wednesday. When they arrived, they found 28-year-old Zackery Melton dead.
Melton, who was unhoused but staying in the area, witnessed a couple arguing and tried to step in, said a woman at the park Thursday who said she was Melton’s girlfriend.
“[Zack] was such a protector,” said the woman, Cheyene, who only provided her first name to protect her privacy. “He got shot defending a homegirl.”
After the shooting, the gunman ran into a nearby building that police surrounded, witnesses said. The scene was chaotic, said Kristen Schonert, a resident who watched the scene unfold the previous night.
Though police eventually went into the building, they did not find the shooter. Police said the gunman is still outstanding.
Since the shooting, a makeshift memorial for Melton has started to grow at the park. Flowers were splayed out on a parking spot where the altercation occurred.
Schonert, who is a regular at the dog park, said the people who live in the park are nice and hopes the victim is remembered for more than this incident.
“People are going to see the homelessness of it all and not the human side of it,” Schonert said.
Times staff writer Joseph Serna contributed to this report.