4 Men Found Shot to Death in Apartment

Four men were found shot to death in a Mid-Wilshire apartment Tuesday evening in a killing police described as an “organized operation.”

Two of the bodies were discovered at 6:30 p.m. when a friend of one of the victims went to the triplex in the 1200 block of South Burnside Avenue to watch the fourth game of the National Basketball Assn. championship series, investigators said.

The friend notified neighbors who called authorities, said Los Angeles Police Lt. Willie Pannell. Officers discovered two more bodies in another room after their arrival, he said.

All four had been killed between 5 and 6:30 p.m., Pannell said.

None of the victims was identified, but officers said one is believed to have been a resident of the apartment.

“It did appear to be an organized operation inside the house,” Pannell said. “People were placed in certain locations and shot.”

He said detectives are “looking at it as a robbery,” adding that officers are also investigating the possibility that drugs may have been sold from the apartment.

“We have no suspects and no witnesses,” Pannell said. “We are starting from scratch.”