27 replies to this topic

[MosJan]

Long Beach Press-Telegram, CA
March 10 2004

Hollywood man killed in mysterious freeway shooting


By Phillip W. Browne
Staff Writer


NORTH HOLLYWOOD - Detectives this morning were trying to unravel the
mystery behind an early morning shooting along the Hollywood (170)
Freeway that claimed the life of a Hollywood grocery clerk.

Garen Ketikyab, 20, was gunned down by someone inside a white Ford
Mustang just after midnight as he drove north on the freeway near
Sherman Way. His passenger, whose name was not released for his
safety, was uninjured.

The assailants are believed to be the same men who, just minutes
earlier, were riding motorcycles and got into a confrontation with
the victims, police said. Detectives also originally believed the
case might be connected to narcotics, gangs or other criminal
activity. But that also proved false, and the motive remains a
mystery.

"We ran a check on Garen and the passenger, and neither have a
criminal record," said Detective Mike Coffey, with the LAPD's North
Hollywood Division. "All indications are that they are good, hard
working kids. And they were just out having some fun and visiting
friends."

The drama began about 11:45 p.m. Monday when Ketikyan, a student at
Valley College, and his passenger were stopped at the intersection of
Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Victory Boulevard "cruising and looking
for girls to talk to," Coffey said. They were inside a 1998 Mercury
Marquis.

At the traffic signal, there were two men on motorcycles and a woman
driving a Lexus who were stopped in front of them. When the light
turned green, the Lexus drove away but the men on motorcycles did not
move.

"The victim began honking his horn, and the men got off the bikes,
removed their helmets and began walking toward the Mercury in a
threatening manner," Coffey said, adding that the victims noticed the
men were Armenian. "No words were exchanged but the incident scared
them. Somehow the confrontation ended without incident and everyone
drove away."

About 15 minutes later Ketikyan was driving north on the Hollywood
Freeway when a white Mustang, with chrome wheels and paper plates,
pulled alongside them and someone inside fired between 10 and 15
rounds, striking Ketikyan in the head, Coffey said.

A North Hollywood patrol officer on Sherman Way heard she shots, and
saw Ketikyan's car come to a stop on the overpass. The passenger
jumped out and began screaming for help as the officer raced up the
onramp to investigate, Coffey said.

Ketikyan was pronounced dead at the scene.

The uninjured passenger told detectives he believed the men in the
Mustang were the same people on the motorcycles.

"It seemed kind of far-fetched to us that the assailants could switch
vehicles and find the victims that quickly, but it's not impossible,"
Coffey said. "We're following all the leads we can."

The northbound 170 Freeway was closed between Burbank Boulevard and
Sherman Way until about 4:40 a.m. while police investigated the
shooting, said California Highway Patrol Officer Francisco
Villalobos.

Detectives did not have a good description of the suspects, except to
say they are Armenian. They also want to question the woman who was
driving the Lexus.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Coffey at the
LAPD's North Hollywood station, (818) 623-4075. On weekends and
during off-hours, contact the 24-hour toll free number at the
Detective Information Desk, at (877) LAWFULL, (877) 529-3855.

[Lessons_in_Life]

From reading what people have posted I see that people aren't concentrating on the important issue here. People are getting carried away with oh he honked or he didnt hon. Who cares??? And so if he did does that justify someone firing 15 times at him??..NO....!!! And someone mentioned that who knows what king of stuff he was involved in?...if he was involved in anything..belive me our media would have reported it already. And as to why the motorcyclists changed vehicles...maybe they didnt have the guns on them ..Maybe it was in their car and that's why the changed vehicles. Maybe because their motorcycles had plates and the car didn't. Maybe right?.... But all I can see from these postings is people questioning why he honked...Who cares why..None of you ( those who drive) can say you have only honked to help a little old lady from getting crushed by someone backing up...that would be a lie...I myself am a driver and know that if the light turns red and you dont drive ( which is what happend)..people from behind will honk to get your attention..... So before we as a group sit here and try to point fingers..we should realize the tragety of the situation. that a parent will bury their child and not the other way around...And that my friends should never EVER happen. A parent should never have to pick out a coffin for their child. All i can say is I have learned that there are much more crazy people in this world than I thought. To fire a whole clip at someone ..there's no excuse for that... No one has the right to take a life because we ourselves never created life. I am sure that these guys were some kind of drug addicts or something ..no one in the right mind could do that....As far as the victim well the police report says in ...No criminal Record...No signs of any Alcohol or Drug use....

[Azat]

I agree with Lessons on this one. My initial reaction was they must be in a gang or had to have done something and the story is still a bit fishy to me. They may have cursed at each other or what not, but does it justify a killing of a human being.

Do we as humans have no value left in this society?

As for the parents and family and all that I am sure non of us can understand the pain that they are going thru right now.

By the way Lessons, welcome to HyeForum.

[angel4hope]

godd everytime i read that or hear anout it i get goosebumps- that just scares that shi** outta me-- aye-- imagine 10 (was it 10?) shots in the head-- my godd... i have violence- phobia- these types o thinngs just scare the living cra** outta me

[sev-mard]

The average person isn't all that great. And living in Los Angeles it only gets worse. That's how I feel. I'm no punk but I don't pick fights or even honk at people in the street because you never know what crazy person you're dealing with. It's scary, because people don't care about who the kill or if they die, just murder for the sake of murder. It's quite disgusting.

[gurgen]

After all, California is the largest distributor of serial killers in the world.

Edited by gurgen, 16 March 2004 - 11:19 AM.

[sev-mard]

Really? I know America is hands down, but I didn't know that it was California. Probably, it gets scary out here sometimes man. Senseless I tell you.

[gurgen]

Yep, statistically California has the most serial killings in the world