Recently released video shows the victim holding a cell phone to his ear. He walks at some point out of the view of the camera inside of the liquor store then back into the view of the camera.
Then he takes off running as a suspect begins to fire at him. The victim, running for his life in the parking lot, tries to dodge as the suspect fires multiple rounds at him.
A closer look of those suspects shows the men smiling inside of the liquor store. Detectives are hoping the public will recognize them.
Police do not believe the intended victim was hit by the gunfire.
"The shooting actually occurred on October 2nd and we have not been notified by any hospitals or by the victim himself, or by the victim's friends or family," said Hawthorne Police Lt. Gary Tomatani. "So we are working under the assumption that he was not hit. The surveillance camera footage that we do have indicates to us that he wasn't hit. He was able to run pretty fast away from the scene.
"We're being optimistic," said Tomatani. "We're hoping that he was not actually hit by a bullet. At this time we don't have a motive. We are exploring everything. We are exploring the possibility that it might have been a gang-related incident. But without having a statement from the actual victim himself we have no motive. It's a complete mystery. We haven't identified the suspects yet, we haven't identified the victim."
Police need your help identifying the two suspects and the victim. If you can help police, you're asked to call the Hawthorne Police Detective Bureau at (310) 349-2820.
