Los Angeles Police Department South Bureau Homicide detectives released surveillance video Wednesday of a van they say could be the getaway ride for a killer.
Just after midnight on Nov. 18, 2017, Gerald Hamilton, 45, was shot and killed while in his car outside his home on the 5400 block of 6th Avenue in Hyde Park. Police say neighbors heard the shots but no one called it in until Hamilton's wife found him slumped over the steering wheel at 4 a.m.
"Someone just killed my husband!" Hamilton's wife screamed to a 911 operator. "No, Jesus! No!"
Detective Clifton Rose is the lead detective on the case and says the van they've spotted in multiple surveillance videos is unique.
"It has a two-tone roof, it's an older model traveler van," Detective Rose said. "The body of it is dark colored but the roof is white, which I think is very distinctive."
Hamilton has a checkered past with ties to local gangs, but his family says he had begun to turn his life around; he was a married man, father to a teenage girl and had just started a new job.
"He was well-respected around here," Detective Rose said. "I know that someone has information on what happened to him."
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LAPD believes if they can find that van, they can find the killer. A new $50,000 reward was issued for information regarding the case.
Anyone who may have seen the van, or knows what happened that night, is asked to call LAPD South Bureau Homicide at (323) 786-5110. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
