A community in Norwalk is grappling with the aftermath of a lethal altercation that left one man dead. Officials from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department were called to the scene at the intersection of Pioneer Boulevard and Los Alisos Circle at around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, when they discovered an adult male suffering from a gunshot wound. Despite immediate efforts to save his life, the man was pronounced dead at the scene, KTLA reports.
The deceased victim was later identified by family members as 18-year-old Geovani Manuel Bliss Chavez, who was on the cusp of both fatherhood and completing school. "Loving, he was funny, he loved to get me mad," Roxanne Chavez, Geovanni's mother, said in a statement obtained by NBC Los Angeles. The family divulged that Chavez and his teenage brother were engaged in selling clothes to someone they had met online, outside of their apartment complex, before the shooting occurred.
As the suspect remains at large, the motives behind the confrontation that led to the shooting are still unknown. The sight of a baseball bat and crutches near the crime scene hinted at a struggle, though their connection to the incident has not been clarified, as noted by ABC7. The homicide investigators are piecing together the events and are urging the public to provide any available information.
Authorities have yet to release a detailed description of the suspect or a more comprehensive account of what transpired during the fatal altercation, but the search is ongoing. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is calling on anyone who might have information related to this case to step forward to assist in the investigation. Those with information can contact the Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500 or anonymously through L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org, as echoed by multiple sources.
