Man Killed During Attempted Robbery

Gunmen armed with semiautomatic pistols shot and killed a man and left another seriously wounded Saturday during an apparent robbery attempt in the Athens area of Los Angeles, sheriff’s deputies said.

A group of men had left the Hideaway Club on south Western Avenue at 3:30 a.m. and were walking to their cars in the parking lot of the nearby Hilltop Market when they were confronted by two teen-agers and another suspect about 20 years old, said Deputy Bill Linnemeyer, a sheriff’s spokesman.

An unidentified man who was shot in the upper body was pronounced dead at the scene.

Alexander Clarke, 32, of Los Angeles was struck once in the leg and was listed in serious but stable condition at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Another victim, identified as Eric Andrews, 32, of Los Angeles, was shot in the upper jaw and treated and released at Martin Luther King Jr.-Drew Medical Center. No suspects were in custody, Linnemeyer said.

In another incident Friday, two men fired shots into a crowd at a Gardena parking lot, killing Luan Thai Nguyen, 26, of Carson and seriously injuring Hoang Minh Nguyen, 21, of Lawndale.

The two victims were leaving the Chieu Anh Restaurant on Crenshaw Boulevard when a man driving a dark Datsun followed by a second gunman driving a dark Mustang entered the restaurant’s parking lot about 10 p.m. The assailants got out of their cars, fired their handguns and drove away, Sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Olmsted said.