Quiet returns to LR shop where gunfire killed 1 man, left 4 people hurt

Children sipped milkshakes Wednesday in the ice cream shop where five people were shot Tuesday night, leaving one man dead and four people wounded.

La Michoacana, an ice cream shop in a strip mall in the 5400 block of Baseline Road, was open again Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after police and fire personnel and first responders swarmed the area.

A 911 caller told police at 5:53 p.m. Tuesday that a woman was lying on the ground outside the AutoZone, about a block away and across Baseline Road from the ice cream shop, police spokesman Eric Barnes said Wednesday.

The caller said several people were running from the area and that they heard gunshots, Barnes said. Later, a 911 caller said two men were fighting over a gun, though whether that 911 caller was the same person who originally reported the shooting was not immediately clear.

When officers arrived at the ice cream shop, they found Justin Foster, 31, bleeding from a gunshot wound in his chest and Ahmad Salaam, 39, with a gunshot wound in his abdomen, Barnes said. Despite being shot, Barnes said, Salaam was performing CPR on Foster, who was unresponsive and not breathing.

Before being transported to a hospital, Salaam told police that he was acting in self-defense when he shot Foster, Barnes said. Salaam could not give a full statement because he was still being treated at a hospital, Barnes said.

Foster died at the scene, Barnes said.

Officers found two other gunshot victims nearby. Both had been shot in their legs,

and one person had been grazed by a bullet. Barnes said they were innocent bystanders during the shooting.

Police also found a weapon at the scene.

By Wednesday afternoon, the pane of glass that a bullet shattered had been replaced. The inside of the ice cream shop, where Foster’s body lay for several hours Tuesday night, was clean, and customers filtered in and out of the business.

Workers at the ice cream shop declined to comment.

Police tape Tuesday night stretched across two blocks and two strip malls along the busy road. Across Shelley Drive from La Michoacana, sits La Potosina, a grocery and convenience store.

Maria Rosario Chaidez, who works at La Potosina, said she did not see any of the people running or the shooting, but two of the victims hid in the store until police arrived.

Rosario Chaidez said two women entered the store after the shooting, at least one had been shot in her leg. Not long after they entered, police arrived and took them to ambulances.

For most of the rest of her shift, Rosario Chaidez and her co-workers saw police investigating the homicide next-door.

Adaneli De Carlo, who works two doors down from the ice cream shop in Mexico Transfers, said she feels safe in her workplace. A thick, bullet-resistant glass separates her from anyone who enters. De Carlo said that although she feels safe where she works, she knows there is crime nearby.

“I’m safe here,” she said. “Out there, [I’m] not so sure.”

Juan Zarate said he’s happy that his restaurant, Taqueria Jalisco’z, was not affected by the shooting, and he feels safe in his building. Taqueria Jalisco’z sits at the end of the second strip mall that police taped off Tuesday night and is not connected to the strip where Foster was shot.

“I believe in God, and I believe when it’s time for you to die, you die,” Zarate said. “Nobody bothers us here.”

Zarate said his business had never been robbed in the eight years since it opened, and he’s lived in the neighborhood for more than 15 years.

“We stay away from trouble,” Zarate said. “We’ll be OK.”