Merchants Wary After L.A. Market Owner Is Slain by Pair

Shopkeepers along Manchester Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles were keeping a watchful eye over their stores Sunday after the owner of a local fish market was shot and killed by two unidentified gunmen.

Roosevelt Whitehurst, 49, owner of the Whitehurst Fish Market, was killed Saturday night near the front door of his market at 111 W. Manchester Ave., Lt. Joseph Freia said.

Whitehurst, who neighboring business owners said had been at the Manchester location for only a few years, managed to fire his own gun at least once at his attackers and struggled with them before he was fatally shot, detectives said.

According to Freia, Whitehurst had picked up his gun from behind the market counter about 8:30 p.m. and had walked to the front door to lock up for the night when the gunmen appeared.

“He had the gun in his hand when the suspects entered, and without a word they began shooting,” Freia said. He could offer no motive for the shooting.

Police said two of Whitehurst’s employees were in the fish market when the shooting occurred, but were unable to help Whitehurst. It was unknown whether either of the gunmen, who fled on foot, was wounded by the single round the victim fired, police said.

Meanwhile, shopkeepers in the Manchester Avenue business district just east of the Harbor Freeway said they are being particularly careful since the shooting, which occurred in an area plagued by recent gang-related shooting deaths.

An employee at a nearby liquor store said that while most of the businesses in the area have bars on their windows and many of the shopkeepers have guns, “you still can’t believe it when somebody gets shot. We’re trying to make a living here, but it seems like it isn’t worth it sometimes.”