The shooting left one dead and is being investigated in connection with the Sycamore Canyon shooting in late January that left two dead and one critically injured.
By Cortney Litwin/Staff Writer
This shooting was mistakenly reported in last week’s issue as happening at Latigo Canyon.
With the shooting death of a man in Decker Canyon still under investigation, one resident of the area spoke of her disturbing experience on the night of Feb. 20.
The peace of the pastoral, isolated neighborhood was shattered after a neighbor heard gunfire at about 8 p.m. and called the Sheriff’s Department, according to L.A. County Sheriff’s homicide Lt. Jack Jordan. About four hours later, just before midnight, the body of Adrian Barral, 30, from Van Nuys, was discovered by a third Decker Canyon neighbor, lying on Mulholland Highway near Decker Road. Barral had been shot multiple times in the torso.
The resident who spoke to The Malibu Times, who wished to be unidentified, said she suspected something was amiss because, “My dogs were barking wildly about 11:30 that night.” She said she walked outside and found blood in her driveway and items possibly associated with the victim. However, the body was found a half-mile from her house.
Lt. Jordan said authorities are testing the blood to see if it is from more than one person, other than the victim.
In the meantime, authorities found Barral’s car down a steep 50-foot ravine off Mulholland Drive, about 100 yards from the resident’s driveway. Lt. Jordan said it didn’t appear that Barral had climbed up the canyon wall and onto the highway, or that his body had been moved after his death.
Shedding some light on the victim’s reason for being in the area, which is still a mystery, the resident said she spoke with a cousin of Barral’s, who came out to Decker Canyon from Los Angeles after the murder.
“She was still in shock-she’d just found out. She was trying to find out some information to send back to his mother in Venezuela.”
The cousin told her Barral’s friends had “reported him missing when he didn’t show up to the place where he was supposed to be,” the resident said. “A map was found on his table with directions to the [Decker Canyon] neighborhood.”
Currently, sheriff’s authorities are interviewing the victim’s friends and family, Lt. Jordan said. The shooting is being investigated in possible connection with two Sycamore Cove shooting homicides that occurred Jan. 26 off Pacific Coast Highway.
As for life getting back to normal after a murder was committed close to her doorstep, the resident isn’t worried. “I’m not changing my habits,” she said. “I still take my moonlight hikes.”