Worker Shot to Death in Garment Plant

Police searched Thursday for a man they say fatally shot a downtown garment worker who had just stepped off an elevator into a fourth-floor foyer on his way to work.

The victim was shot three times about 8:15 a.m. in a manufacturing building at 7th and Los Angeles streets.

The hallway leads to dozens of small Korean-owned manufacturing companies that lease space, including K and C Apparel, a maker of ladies’ formal clothing and the victim’s employer for about five years.

Police closed the building for most of Thursday morning, forcing dozens of employees to stay inside, as officers searched the area. More than 200 people work in the building, police said.

By 10 a.m., police determined that the killer had escaped, said Officer Jerry Pritchett. Police had no description.

The victim, a man in his 30s whose name had not been released, still had his wallet, but police did not rule out robbery as a motive. The man also could have been the victim of mistaken identity, Det. Cliff Shepard said. The victim’s co-workers, Shepard said, were devastated. “He was a very well-liked guy. He had no known enemies. We are kind of baffled.”

Lionel Franco, a maintenance technician, said the man had been shot in the head and back.

Pascual Hernandez, a friend and co-worker, said the victim had emigrated from the Mexican state of Puebla about 10 years ago and has a wife and children in Los Angeles.

Police and business owners in the neighborhood said that despite the common drug sales on nearby skid row, violent crime is rare.

“People think this is a dangerous area. There is no danger at all,” said Joanne Im of Montebello, owner of a children’s shop on the building’s street level.

“This is unusual,” Shepard said.