DISABLED MAN SHOT DEAD IN AMBUSH WIFE IS HURT WHEN SHE COMES TO HELP.

Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer

VAN NUYS - A disabled father of four was killed in an ambush outside his Van Nuys home Friday night, and his wife was wounded by gunfire as she came to his aid, police said Saturday.

No motive had been determined in the killing of Suren Ghukasyan, 31, a double-amputee shot to death shortly after parking his car in the garage of his home in the 13700 block of Cohasset Street just before 11 p.m. Friday, officials said.

``When he exited his vehicle, multiple suspects approached, ... produced handguns and shot at (him) multiple times,'' police said in a statement.

Ghukasyan, who relied on a wheelchair or prosthetic legs and a cane to maneuver, lived in the quiet suburban neighborhood with his wife and four children, said neighbors who were awakened by gunfire.

``I heard more than 10 shots ... and then I opened my window and saw the car drive away,'' said neighbor Marine Barsumyan, who lives across the street from the Ghukasyan family.

When Ghukasyan's 29-year-old wife, Paytsar Kalbukyan, attempted to help her husband, she was shot in the leg, police said. She was hospitalized but her wound was not considered life-threatening, police said.

Ghukasyan was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, officials said.

On Saturday the neighborhood was quiet. A broken cane lay alongside the Ghukasyan driveway.

``I cannot go to sleep, I cannot do anything. I am very afraid - I took my kids to their grandmother's house,'' Barsumyan said.

Police were trying to determine a motive for the attack, asking that anyone with information on the crime call detectives at the Los Angeles Police Department's Van Nuys Division, (818)-756-8346.