Police Identify Gunman Slain in Holdup

A man who was shot to death by a teen-age stock clerk as he attempted to rob a Studio City liquor store Monday evening was identified Tuesday as Robert E. Lambert of Los Angeles, police said.

Lambert, 32, was shot several times in the upper body by a 16-year-old boy who is the son of the liquor store’s owner, Lt. Ron LaRue said. The boy was not identified.

The shooting occurred about 8:30 p.m. at Tony’s Liquor Store at 13368 Ventura Blvd., LaRue said.

Lambert pulled a .357-caliber revolver, ordered a customer to lie on the floor and demanded a sales clerk to turn over cash from the register, police said.

Lambert gestured at the teen-ager, who was near a doorway to the storeroom, to come closer, police said. But the youth instead backed into the storeroom, emerged with a .38-caliber pistol kept at the store, then shot Lambert, LaRue said.

The police spokesman said the boy’s father was not present during the shooting and no one else was injured. The store has been robbed more than once in recent years, he said.

Police are treating the shooting as a justifiable homicide, LaRue said. “This 16-year-old kid had his head on pretty straight,” he said.