I just about fell out of my chair laughing when I read this:
A young man was shot to death and another was wounded early Friday while trying to carjack two FBI agents conducting surveillance in Reseda, officials said.
The incident remains under investigation, but officials said the would-be robbers appear to have targeted the agents randomly.
The FBI declined Friday to identify the dead suspect pending notification of his relatives. The agency also withheld the identities of the injured suspect and two others arrested in connection with the incident because they are minors.
The bureau said it will not release the names of the special agents, both of whom are assigned to the FBI’s Los Angeles Division.
The bureau said in a statement that the incident began while two FBI agents were sitting in a parked vehicle near Vanowen Street and Corbin Avenue during an investigation of a violation of the Hobbs Act, which concerns extortion and robbery.
The agents were “accosted by four young male subjects, at least one of whom was armed” shortly after midnight, the FBI said, and an altercation broke out when the young men tried to commandeer the agents’ vehicle.
Two youths were wounded, one fatally, in an ensuing gunfight, although the FBI did not say how many shots were fired nor how many individuals had guns.
While the bureau did not specify the exact location of the incident, witnesses said Friday that it took place at a 24-hour coin-operated carwash at the southwest corner of the intersection.
David Petersen, who lives across the street, said he was watching television when he heard gunshots.
“It was four or five in the beginning, then there was a slight delay and it was three more,” he said.
Three suspects fled the scene but were eventually captured, officials said.
The wounded youth was hospitalized in stable condition while the other two are in the custody of the Los Angeles Police Department, which referred all questions about the incident to the FBI.
Dozens of officers and agents spent hours searching the neighborhood after the shooting. As helicopters hovered overhead, some officers used dogs to search houses, witnesses said.
By Friday afternoon, motorists were washing Topanga Fire ash from their cars at the carwash. Next door, a locked preschool displayed a sign saying school would be closed “due to the shooting last night at car wash.”
Tarlochan Dhillon, manager of a 7-Eleven across from the carwash, said the intersection was swarming with law enforcement when he arrived about 5 a.m.
“I was shocked when I was told what happened,” he said. “It’s pretty safe in this area.”
The FBI said a specialized team will investigate the shooting while local officials consider criminal charges against the suspects.
As I tell people all the time, if criminals were smart we would be out of a job.
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