One person was arrested Wednesday in connection with a car-to-car shooting in a Hawthorne alley that left one man dead, police said.
The victim was found just after 1 a.m. in the alley in the 12000 block of Prarie Avenue in Hawthorne, about 15 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles, officials said. The 31-year-old man was taken to the hospital where he died.
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One person, 22-year-old Dante' Baay McNeil, was arrested Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., Los Angeles Sheriff's Detective Adan Torres said.
The suspect's bail has been set at $1 million.
The victim, identified as 31-year-old Azzam Stallsworth, was stopped in the alley and had just rolled down his windows when the gunman pulled alongside his vehicle and opened fire, investigators said.
"There was a car-to-car shooting in this alley, and the person was struck by the gunfire and ended up crashing his car into a wrought iron gate," said Lt. Dave Dolson.
A passenger of the victim's gold Lexus sedan, identified as the victim's girlfriend, was not injured, police said.
The mother of the victim's girlfriend told NBC4 that the couple was coming home from the movies when the shooting happened.
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Neighbors said they heard they heard gunfire coming from the alley behind their residences.
"I didn't hear any screeching (tires), I didn't hear any screaming," said Anne Marie Capp. "I just heard four shots."
A neighbor who stopped by the crime scene around 6 a.m. Wednesday believes the victim may be his nephew. Two other men with the neighbor believe the victim was their cousin. They said that their relative had been in the area with his girlfriend victim's girlfriend and she reportedly called to say he had been shot.
"She just said somebody drive by in another car and shot, while he was hanging out in an alley," neighbor Nathaniel Taylor said.
Fire officials had initially said that the gunshot victim was found inside a church, but Hawthorne police later clarified that the man was found in an alley near the church and that the shooting was not associated with the church.
Toni Guinyard contributed to this report.
