Katz lived with his girlfriend on Pico
PIC0 NEIGHBORHOOD — The man who was fatally shot last week after he attempted to rob two victims at gunpoint while they were in a fast food drive-thru has been identified as a Santa Monica resident.
Steven Alexander Katz, 27, died from a gunshot wound to the chest shortly after 4:45 a.m. on July 21 after attempting to rob two men who stopped at a Jack in the Box drive-thru window at 2025 Lincoln Blvd.
Katz lived with his girl-friend in an apartment on the 1000 block of Pico Boulevard.
Lt. Ed Winter with the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office said it had not yet been determined if Katz was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of his death. That information will be available in coming weeks after a toxicology report is completed.
Katz, reportedly wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a black ski mask, approached a commercial plumbing van, pointed a semi-automatic pistol at the passenger’s head through an open window and demanded money, police said. The passenger grabbed the suspect’s hand and a struggle ensued. During the tussle, Katz, with his free hand, grabbed a kitchen knife in his pocket and stabbed the passenger, who suffered a minor laceration. That’s when the driver reached behind his car seat, grabbed his own gun and fired several shots at Katz.
Katz staggered a few feet before falling down in the alley behind a fishing tackle store next door to Jack In the Box. He was pronounced dead at the scene by responding police officers and paramedics.
Police are not identifying the victims. The case is still under investigation.
Katz lived in a secure blue apartment building on the south side of Pico Boulevard, next to a thrift store.
A woman, associated with Katz’s girl-friend, met a reporter at the apartment’s locked gate. She said Katz’s girlfriend, who hasn’t been identified, declined to comment.
Katz’s body lay in the alley for more than an hour before the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office transported him to the morgue.
A bullet hole about an inch in diameter could be seen Thursday in the fishing tackle store’s exterior wall, just a few feet from the drive-thru. Winter declined to say what kind of gun was used in the shooting.
Preliminary investigation reveals that the shooting was a justifiable homicide, although the case will be forwarded to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office for further review once SMPD detectives finish their work.
The DA’s office also will determine if it will charge the victim for carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle, which is a misdemeanor. The case has yet to be transferred to the DA’s office.
Both victims cooperated and were released shortly after the shooting. Investigators will determine if the victim was carrying the gun legally.
The SMPD is checking with the Department of Justice to determine if Katz had a criminal record.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 27, 2005. Read the original PDF.