I’m disappointed that your paper failed to do a story about the serial shootings along Pico Boulevard Sunday morning. While the damage to each business was only the costs involved in cleaning up the shattered glass, securing the property until the glass could be replaced, and the cost of new glass and its installation, the total of (the last I heard) 17 such incidents runs into several thousand dollars.
The shootings started, I was told by an LAPD reserve officer on the scene, across town where the sniper took out the Verizon and Walgreens windows. The jerk(s) then proceeded to Pico Boulevard and at about 10 a.m., started at the “EGGS” restaurant at 1701 Pico Blvd. and continued east, sniping at various plate glass windows well into East Los Angeles.
Thank goodness the jerk(s) chose Sunday to ravage the small businesses along Pico. Had it been a weekday when most of the businesses along the street are open and there is heavy pedestrian traffic, someone might have been seriously injured either by the flying projectiles or flying glass.
These small businesses, already under assault by the City Council, can ill afford the time, energy, and money involved in repairs. Example of the city’s attacks on small business: A nearby small business owner recently suffered the indignity of a raid by the city’s “fire extinguisher inspector” who took a few seconds to check the certification of her fire extinguisher and then billed her $60 for the inconvenience.
Since these shootings took place on Sunday when most businesses are closed, it may have turned out that at least some found damage when they came to work Monday morning.
The SMPD was overwhelmed by the number of incidents. It took them about a half-hour to reach the EGGS location. Fortunately, an off-duty Los Angeles Police reserve officer arrived almost immediately to secure the site and warn pedestrians away from the broken and falling glass.
I hope this story wasn’t ignored because “there are always shootings in Pico” and that you will at least report the final outcome: Did the cops ever catch the sniper?
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 25, 2004. Read the original PDF.