Los Angeles Times (Sunday)

Man is fatally beaten; 2 sought

- By Faith E. Pinho

One man died and another suffered minor injuries after they were beaten outside a West Hollywood bar early Friday; two suspects fled and remain at large, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

All four people were leaving the bar E.P. & L.P. on the corner of La Cienega Boulevard and Melrose Avenue when a scuffle broke out just before 12:30 a.m., said sheriff ’s Lt. Derrick Alfred.

“It appears to be one of those things where the suspect thought the victims were talking about him and ... he accused the victims, ‘Why are you talking about me?’ ” Alfred said. “[One of the victims] said, ‘We’re not talking about you,’ and it escalated from there.”

The two assailants, a man and a woman, allegedly hit the victim with a blunt object and knocked him to the ground, kicking him and stomping on his head as he lay unconsciou­s, Alfred said. Authoritie­s pronounced him dead at the scene. His identity was withheld until his family could be notified, Alfred said.

The victim’s friend, a 49year-old Los Angeles man, suffered “superficia­l injuries” to his head, Alfred said.

Their relation to the two suspects is unclear. But Alfred said they were in separate groups at the bar.

The two assailants ran north on La Cienega Boulevard as bystanders began tending to the victim, he said. Authoritie­s are examing surveillan­ce video and reviewing credit card receipts from the cashless bar to identify the suspects, according to Alfred.

California’s latest mass vaccinatio­n center will open Friday at the Del Mar Fairground­s in San Diego County.

It’s the fifth mass vaccinatio­n center to open in the county, which is forging ahead with new sites. That strategy has paid off so far: San Diego is among the leaders in the state in the number of vaccines it has administer­ed for its population, around 15,200 doses per 100,000 residents.

In Santa Clara County, a mass-vaccinatio­n site has launched at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. The site is the fourth large-scale vaccinatio­n site in that county and could become the largest vaccine hub in the state if it meets its goal of administer­ing 15,000 shots a day once vaccine supplies increase.

In Los Angeles County, however, several city-run vaccinatio­n sites — including the largest at Dodger Stadium — are being forced to close because of a shortage of vaccines. Several large county-run sites are remaining open but are limited to second doses only.

This week, the city of L.A. received 16,000 doses, only about 3,000 more than city officials have on average administer­ed per day across the five inoculatio­n sites, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said. By comparison, the city secured 90,000 doses last week and 29,000 the week before, he said.

Officials throughout California have lamented the limited and variable vaccine shipments they’ve received, saying they have the capability to provide significan­tly more shots.

“Supply is the issue. That’s the constraint,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week. “So when you ask me, ‘What are we doing to vaccinate this group, that group, what about this group, what about that group?’ It’s an issue now of scarcity. It’s an issue of supply.”

At the Del Mar Fairground­s site in San Diego County, shots will be offered to county residents who are 65 and older, work in healthcare, or live or work in longterm care facilities. Both drive-through and walk-up vaccinatio­ns will be offered, but those seeking shots need an appointmen­t from the San Diego County COVID-19 vaccine site.

“This super station will be the next major part of our regional vaccinatio­n strategy,” county Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer said in a statement.

“We are preparing this large venue to ensure we are ready to ramp up vaccinatio­n distributi­on as quickly as possible when more doses become available.”

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