[Update:5:20 p.m.] All overnight camping at Malibu Creek State Park was suspended at least through next Thursday, June 28, according to California State Parks Angeles District Superintendent Craig Sap. The closure would not affect day use areas such as hiking trails.
“We’ve cancelled [reservations] through the 28th and [on] Monday or Tuesday we’ll reassess where we’re at in terms of extending that or, if we’re so lucky as to catch the individual responsible for this—or individuals responsible for this—we’ll hopefully be able to then open the campground,” Sap explained.
Sap also described increased ranger and officer presence at the park Friday morning and into Friday night.
“We brought in some staff to cover this incident, especially this morning, we had several officers come in,” Sap said, including officers extending shifts and coming in on days off. Throughout the day, those staying in the campground have been asked to leave, as well as the camp host, who was “relocated down the coast.”
“For the security of the campers, they’re all going to be gone and the campground will be empty, so there’s not a need for additional rangers there to look over them,” Sap said.
[Update: 2:55 p.m.] The victim of a shooting at Malibu Creek State Park was shot and killed inside of a tent early this morning, according to Lt. Rodney Moore, a homicide investigator with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
“He was pronounced dead at the scene,” Moore described in a telephone call with The Malibu Times. “Also inside of the tent—I don’t know if I mentioned he was located inside a tent—also in his tent at the time of the incident were two children, both female, two and four years old. They were not injured.”
Moore also specified that “because of the conditions” of the body at the time he was found, it was not immediately known whether the victim had been shot in his head or upper torso.
As of Monday afternoon, there was “no suspect information” and “no motive,” Moore described.
[Update: 2 p.m.]: LA County Sheriff’s Department Officer Robinson confirmed that the family members at the scene were the victim’s two daughters, ages two and four, in a phone call with The Malibu Times.
According to The Acorn, the girls were taken to Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station for interviews with the county’s homicide bureau detectives.
[Update: 1:04 p.m.]: The body has been identified as a white adult male, according to a statement released by LA County Sheriff’s Department. The male had “sustained at least one gunshot wound to his upper torso;” he was pronounced dead at the scene thereafter.
The shooting took place at Malibu Creek State Park, where the victim was camping with family members. According to the shared statement, deputies from the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station also responded to the scene after a “shots fired” call was made.
The family members were not injured.
Homicide detectives are still investigating the crime. There is no known suspect or motive.
Anyone with information about the homicide is advised to contact the LA County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at 323.890.5500.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Detectives were on scene at Las Virgenes Road in Calabasas after the body of an adult male was found there early Friday morning, June 22, according to an alert from the department.
At 4:44 a.m. Friday, the body of an adult male was discovered at the 1900 block of Las Virgenes Road, not far from the entrance to Malibu Creek State Park. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
This is the second such investigation undertaken in that area this year. On May 16, the body of Reynaldo Cruz was discovered in the 1600 block of Las Virgenes Road, near the Malibu Hindu Temple. According to the autopsy report, Cruz had died from “sharp force injuries” to the chest and neck, as well as from a “blunt force injury to the head.”
Cruz was reportedly not killed at that location, but rather “dropped there,” sheriff’s reported at the time.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Shivani Patel contributed to this report.
