U.S.

LAPD Chief's Granddaughter Killed

May 30, 2000 / 10:27 AM EDT / AP

The granddaughter of Police Chief Bernard Parks was shot to death in a restaurant parking lot by a gunman who was apparently aiming for her friend, authorities said.

Lori Gonzalez, 20, was shot several times by a man who walked up and opened fire on the car in the driveway of a Popeye's chicken restaurant in south Los Angeles at 10:15 p.m. Sunday, Lt. Horace Frank said.

Police said they had no information about a possible motive for the attack.

"We're really asking the public's help in bringing this individual to justice," Frank said.

The attacker apparently was aiming for Gonzalez's passenger, a 20-year-old friend, police said.

"He ducked and he was not injured," Officer Jason Lee said.

Detectives have begun examining surveillance tapes from a gas station near the shooting scene in hopes that the camera recorded footage of the killer.

Gonzalez is the daughter of one of Parks' three daughters, Felicia, Lee said. Parks also has a son. Parks and his family were "grieving in seclusion," according to a police department statement. The family was "devastated," Frank added.

Mayor Richard Riordan issued a statement of condolence, saying he and his wife, Nancy, were "deeply saddened by the tragic death."

Her father, Joe Gonzalez, told the Los Angeles Times his daughter was studying English at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, about 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles. She also held two jobs, as a drug store clerk and an operator with Pacific Bell.

Gonzalez described his daughter, who moved in with her father and his family in Mission Viejo two years ago, as "wonderful with people and full of life." She was in Los Angeles visiting her mother, who is divorced from Gonzalez.

Bruce Smith, a resident of the neighborhood where Gonzalez was shot, said safety concerns keep him away from area restaurants late at night.

"Gang problems, drug problems - we have in this part of town. I wouldn't consider it 100 percent safe," he said.

Gonzalez's death isn't the first time Parks' family has made the news. In 1998, Clark County, Nev., prosecutors had a judge dismiss drug trafficking charges against one of Parks' daughters, Michelle Lynette Parks. Authorities said she unknowingly became involved in a drug deal when she gave a ride to man she had met.