LA Store Clerk Killed While Breaking Up Fight at Shoe Raffle

Updated on Thursday, Aug.12, 2021 at 11:25 p.m.: Los Angeles police have taken a 16-year-old male into custody in connection with Wednesday’s fatal shooting of Shoe Palace employee Jayren Bradford during a fight at a shoe raffle. More information can be found here.

Previously…
A Shoe Palace employee in Los Angeles was fatally shot when he tried to break up a fight between customers at a shoe raffle.

Los Angeles police officers responded to the 7700 block of Melrose Avenue around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, after getting reports of a shooting, the LAPD said in a news release.

Police said someone opened fire during a dispute between a group of males and females during the shoe raffle in front of the store. When officers arrived at the business in the Fairfax District, they found a man in the street suffering from a gunshot wound. The shoe store is located near the CBS Television City studios.

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Store employees identified the victim as Jayren Bradford. They said he was a clerk at the store and was shot while trying to calm things down during the dispute.

“A lady was in the front flipping tables, going crazy about the raffle. The next thing you know they walk off and I heard a gunshot. So everybody was panicking, getting in the back room,” Keyshawn Williams, a co-worker of Bradford, told NBC Los Angeles. “And I walk out and see Jay on the floor.”

Bradford was transported an an area hospital where he was pronounced deceased. According to local news reports, he had just started his shift when the shooting occurred.

Mourners left flowers and candles in front of the business on Wednesday night. Some told local news reporters crime in the area has soared in the past year.

The suspect fled and was last seen driving a Silver Toyota Camry with the license plate number BC10D32.

The LAPD urged anyone with information to call West Bureau Homicide investigators at (213) 382-9470.