Hermosa Beach man shoots himself on PCH, dies in apparent suicide
A Hermosa Beach man in his early 20s died last week after what police are describing as a possible suicide inside his car on Pacific Coast Highway in Hermosa Beach Thursday afternoon.
Reached Friday morning after the incident, police had said that the man survived the shooting and was in critical condition at an area hospital. But the victim was in fact declared dead some time after arriving at the hospital on Thursday, said Sgt. Robert Higgins of the Hermosa Beach Police Department.
The apparent suicide followed a family dispute at the man’s home, police said. Officers were summoned to a residence in North Hermosa about 4:15 p.m by a call about a verbal or possibly physical dispute, said Sgt. Robert Higgins of the Hermosa Beach Police Department. When the police arrived, the man’s younger brother said the two had had a disagreement, and that the older brother had left in his car, a white Kia Forte.
The younger brother told the police officers that his brother had mentioned having a firearm, but that the brother did not say anything about suicide, Higgins said.
An officer in an unmarked car spotted a Kia matching the description given the police at the intersection of Artesia and PCH, Higgins said. The officer turned on his lights, and the Kia quickly pulled over on the southbound side of the 2300 block of PCH about 4:25 p.m., according to Higgins.
Shortly after pulling over, while the officer in the unmarked car was waiting for backup, the man in the white Kia fired a single gunshot with a .40 caliber pistol.
About a dozen people working nearby offices gathered at the scene Thursday afternoon. Witnesses said officers cut the man out of his car seat belt and began CPR before he was taken to the hospital.
Police have not yet received permission from the man’s family to disclose his name, Higgins said.
HBPD officers began interviewing members of the man’s family the day of the shooting. The case seems “relatively clear cut,” Higgins said, so there are no plans to bring in deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to assist with the investigation.
Note: This story has been updated to reflect that the man did in fact die following the incident.