L.A. TOURIST TRAGEDY; SANTA MONICA POLICE SEEK KILLER OF GERMAN VISITOR.Byline: Yvette Cabrera and Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writers The slaying of a German tourist during a street holdup near the heart of Santa Monica's entertainment district sent a wave of outrage across the community Tuesday and rippled the worst of Los Angeles' image around the world. Police mounted a citywide manhunt man·hunt n. An organized, extensive search for a person, usually a fugitive criminal. manhunt Noun an organized search, usually by police, for a wanted man or fugitive Noun 1. for the gunman, while the mayor and police chief insisted that the brazen bra·zen adj. 1. Marked by flagrant and insolent audacity. See Synonyms at shameless. 2. Having a loud, usually harsh, resonant sound: "sudden brazen clashes of the soldiers' band" shooting Monday evening of Horst Featz, 50, was a random act and not directed at tourists. ``This is one of the safest places to recreate and visit,'' said Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. Police Chief James Butts James Butts (born 9 May, 1950) was an American athlete who competed mainly in the triple jump. He competed as part of the United States team in the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Canada in the triple jump where he won the Silver medal. . ``But the reality of this is, this is a tragedy.'' An impromptu memorial took shape near the shooting scene, on the manicured lawn at the base of a palm in front of the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel on Appian Way Appian Way (ăp`ēən), Lat. Via Appia, most famous of the Roman roads, built (312 B.C.) under Appius Claudius Caecus. It connected Rome with Capua and was later extended to Beneventum (now Benevento), Tarentum (Taranto), and . Bunches of flowers and several potted pot·ted adj. 1. a. Placed in a pot. b. Grown in a pot: many potted plants in the study. 2. Preserved in a pot, can, or jar. 3. Slang a. plants encircled en·cir·cle tr.v. en·cir·cled, en·cir·cling, en·cir·cles 1. To form a circle around; surround. See Synonyms at surround. 2. To move or go around completely; make a circuit of. a card with a simple plea, ``How can we help?'' Featz, his wife and another German couple were walking back to town after a stroll on the beach about 9:30 p.m. Three men and a woman approached the tourists and apparently demanded money, but Featz and the others couldn't understand because they didn't speak English. At least one of the assailants then reached into their pockets. A struggle followed and one of the men pulled out a handgun and fired. ``After the shots were fired, the suspects fled without securing any property,'' Butts said. ``It was a crime of opportunity. It was a crime by cowards.'' Featz's wife and the three other tourists were scheduled to return home on a Tuesday flight, but the Police Department and German consulate Consulate, 1799–1804, in French history, form of government established after the coup of 18 Brumaire (Nov. 9–10, 1799), which ended the Directory. made arrangements for them to stay longer to help with the investigation. The gunman is described as an African-American male in his early 20s, 5 feet 6 inches tall, with very short hair and dark clothing. An artist was expected to prepare a composite drawing to aid in the search. Featz died in a hospital emergency room a short time after the shooting. There have been no arrests. The names of the victim's wife and the other couple weren't released. Casting a shadow on L.A. The slaying is being viewed by some as an indictment of all of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and would cast a dark shadow on the region. ``The shooting has a tremendous impact because America is the loved - and hated - giant of the world,'' said Jacob Parseghian, owner of Prime Choice Travel in Hollywood. ``And now we're giving a chance to people who hate us to start advertising and give us a bad image.'' Up to 40 percent of his business comes from European customers - and he expects a 15 percent decrease in business due to the shooting death, Parseghian said. News of the shooting stunned stun tr.v. stunned, stun·ning, stuns 1. To daze or render senseless, by or as if by a blow. 2. To overwhelm or daze with a loud noise. 3. European tourists walking Tuesday along the nearby boardwalk or taking in the historic Santa Monica Pier The Santa Monica Pier is located at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California and is a prominent landmark. Attractions The pier contains Pacific Park, a family amusement park with a large ferris wheel. a block north of the shooting scene. ``It makes me nervous. It makes you wonder whether to come down to the area,'' said Jim Rosson, whose family was on its second visit from England to California. ``But we like California,'' said his wife, Pat. ``I like the people myself. And we really like the weather.'' A top destination Germans comprise the city's top international tourist market - about 11 percent of Santa Monica's 2.3 million tourists a year, said Koleen Hamblin, spokeswoman for the Santa Monica Convention and Visitors' bureau. ``Germany and the United Kingdom have been key markets over the past three years,'' she said. In Los Angeles, the killing of a foreign tourist is so rare that officials at the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau could not recall the last time a similar tragedy occurred. Two Japanese students were slain after a carjacking The criminal taking of a motor vehicle from its driver by force, violence, or intimidation. The u.s. justice department categorizes the crime of carjacking as a "completed or attempted Robbery of a motor vehicle by a stranger in 1994 in San Pedro, touching off concerns that the killings would curtail Japanese tourism. About 23 million tourists visit Los Angeles a year, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Los Angeles convention officials. The region is consistently ranked as one of the top three destinations for domestic and international tourism, said Michael Collins Michael Collins is the name of:
About 285,000 of the city's tourists are German, said Collins. The number of tourists arriving here peaked this decade in 1990 at 24.9 million. That number dipped to 20.9 million in 1992, the year of the Los Angeles Riots. Since then, the number has been steadily increasing, but has not achieved the 1990 high. Crime down Santa Monica Mayor Bob Holbrook, who was about three blocks away from the scene at the time of the shooting, called the attack random. ``There was nothing to indicate they were tourists. They were just out for a walk,'' he said. Homicides in Santa Monica this decade topped out at nine in 1993 and declined to three in 1996, according to Santa Monica city statistics. The robbery rate was eight per 1,000 residents in 1992, but dropped to five per 1,000 residents in 1996. The homicide rate in Santa Monica was 3.4 per 100,000 residents, compared to 20.3 in Los Angeles, for 1996, the most recent year that FBI crime statistics were available. The robbery rate in Santa Monica that year was 496 per 100,000 residents, compared to 720 in Los Angeles. The fact that the victim was a German tourist made the shooting big news overseas. Police officials said they received several dozen interview requests from radio, television and newspaper reporters representing German media. ``Everybody in Germany is calling,'' said Barbara Munker, a reporter for the German television network RTL (Register Transfer Level) A high-level hardware description language (HDL) for defining digital circuits. The circuits are described as a collection of registers, Boolean equations, control logic such as "if-then-else" statements as well as complex event sequences; . ``It's a big story. But I'm not blowing it out of proportion.'' That assessment was something of a relief to Santa Monica Convention and Visitors Bureau officials. They scrambled Tuesday to head off any negative impacts from the shooting by contacting travel agents, community leaders and hotel liaisons to assuage as·suage tr.v. as·suaged, as·suag·ing, as·suag·es 1. To make (something burdensome or painful) less intense or severe: assuage her grief. See Synonyms at relieve. 2. their concerns. ``We're hoping (the shooting doesn't) have a huge negative impact and we're doing everything we can to alleviate it,'' said Koleen Hamblin, bureau spokeswoman. She said the bureau received very few calls from tourists inquiring about the shooting. Officials at the German consulate in Los Angeles also characterized the shooting as isolated. ``So far, up to now, Los Angeles has been a rather safe place for German tourists,'' said a consulate spokeswoman. ``There has never been a robbery like this. It's the first case and we really hope it's the exception.'' CAPTION(S): photo PHOTO Catherine and John Poole John Silas Poole (born June 25, 1872 in Kemptville, Ontario; died December 29, 1963) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1936 to 1949. of Australia pass a memorial at the site where Horst Featz was shot in Santa Monica. John Lazar/Daily News |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion