(L.A.) Juan Garcia, 38, Died at a Metro Station

Case Number: 2024-09962

Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 38-year-old Latino male that occurred at the La Cienega / Jefferson Metro station.

The coroner’s office has identified the man as Juan Garcia.

Manner of Death: Homicide

Cause of Death: Gunshot Wounds

RIP JUAN GARCIA (November 12, 1985 – June 21, 2024)

Formal pronouncement of death was made on Friday at 7:37 p.m.

The decedent was shot in the head inside a Metro train as a few other passengers were nearby. He was later officially pronounced dead on the train platform.

LAPD said the shooting happened at the La Cienega/Jefferson station in the 5600 block of West Jefferson Boulevard at around 7:22 p.m.

La Cienega/Jefferson station is an elevated light rail station on the E Line of the L.A. Metro Rail system. The station is over the intersection of La Cienega Boulevard and Jefferson Boulevard, after which the station is named, in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood.

Baldwin Hills and West Adams are adjacent areas.

Garcia had been involved in an argument with three young men on the street level of the Metro E (Gold) Line’s La Cienega/Jefferson Stationt.

The three ran after him upstairs where he was shot right after he fled into a train. The suspects then ran back down and escaped on skateboards. They looked to have been between 15 and 20 years old.

Baldwin Hills is located to the southwest of West Adams. Specifically, Baldwin Hills is bounded by La Cienega Boulevard to the west, Crenshaw Boulevard to the east, Stocker Street to the south, and Obama Boulevard to the north.

The L.A. Times combines Baldwin Hills and Crenshawinto a single neighborhood called “Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw” for demographic and statistical purposes.

UPDATE: On July 10, a 20-year-old man, Oscar Martinez, and a 16-year-old teenager were arrested in connection with this crime.