La Mesa police crusiser. Photo by Chris Stone
A fight between two men in a La Mesa commercial district escalated Friday into a shooting that left one dead.
The men got into an argument for unknown reasons in front of a gas station in the 7500 block of University Avenue about 9:30 a.m., according to La Mesa police.
The dispute soon turned into a scuffle that ended when one of the combatants pulled a handgun and fired several shots, mortally wounding the other man, Lt. Katy Lynch said.
The shooter fled to the west with a female companion in a small dark-colored SUV.
Paramedics took the wounded man, a 44-year-old La Mesa resident, to Sharp Memorial Hospital in Kearny Mesa, where he was pronounced dead, the lieutenant said. The victim’s name was withheld pending family notification.
The shooter – described as a black man in his early to mid-30s, dressed in jeans and a black shirt – remained at large in the mid-afternoon. Police believe that he and the victim were acquainted, according to Lynch.
“There’s some connection between them, but we haven’t figured out what yet,” she said.
Police shut down the westbound lanes of University between Parks Avenue and Culbertson Street to allow for investigation of the fatal shooting. The closure remained in effect in the mid-afternoon.
– City News Service