A 39-year-old man was shot and killed on a subway train in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood on Friday evening, according to Los Angeles police.
Police were called to the 5600 block of Jefferson Boulevard, near the La Cienega/Jefferson station on the E Line, around 7:40 p.m., according to Officer Drake Madison, a police department spokesman.
He said the shooting happened after an argument between the victim and four male suspects that “culminated inside the train,” when one of the suspects pulled out a gun and opened fire on the victim, he said.
Madison said the suspect is believed to be between 15 and 20 years old and fled the scene on foot or on a skateboard.
Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to the scene, but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene, Madison said.
It was not immediately clear whether the incident was gang-related, he said.
As of 11 p.m., service on the E Line between Expo/La Brea and La Cienega/Jefferson remained suspended and was replaced by shuttle buses due to police activity, according to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The shooting is the latest in a series of recent violent incidents in the Los Angeles metro.
In May, a passenger was shot and killed on a City of Commerce bus, a woman’s arm was slashed in an elevator at the Vermont/Athens station, and two people were stabbed during a fight on a bus in Glendale.
In April, a 66-year-old woman was stabbed to death on the B Line near the Universal City station.
Following the series of violent incidents, Mayor Karen Bass in May ordered a “step-up” of law enforcement on the bus and rail systems, calling the surge in violent crime “totally unacceptable.”
Times reporter Rachel Uranga contributed to this report.