An armed would-be robber who was shot to death by the owner of a Norwalk tobacco shop has been identified Saturday as an Oakland resident.
The attempted robbery occurred at about 9 a.m. Tuesday in the 10900 block of East Firestone Boulevard, near the San Gabriel River Freeway, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The man who was fatally shot in the torso was identified by the Sheriff's Information Bureau as 25-year-old Rodney Gaston.
Homicide investigators determined that Classic Tobacco was opening a business for the day when Gaston entered armed with a handgun, along with two others, then pepper-sprayed the owner, prompting him to fire once from his own handgun, striking Gaston.
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The three suspects fled, but Gaston collapsed to the ground a short distance away from the store. Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel found him and transported him to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
The other two suspects fled into a residential area northeast of the shopping center, where Norwalk Station deputies later located and arrested them. They were identified as 22-year-old Lamont Neal of Stockton and 26-year-old Dashaunte Woods of Oakland.
SIB confirmed the three men were acting in collaboration.
