By Barbara Burke
Special to The Malibu Times
A body of a deceased male was found on the afternoon of April 24 by a person who was driving through an off-road tract in unincorporated Malibu. The person came upon a male victim near a pickup truck. Authorities responded to the 800 block of Westlake Blvd to follow up on reports of the shooting, according to Sgt. Chris Soderland of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. Soderland, who added, “The area is in a remote area of the Santa Monica Mountains but when you Google it, you find it has a Malibu address.”
The unidentified victim in his 30s was shot multiple times in the upper body, according to a press release issued by officials.
“We believe it was not a random act,” Homicide Detective Mike Modica with the Sheriff’s Department said, adding that detectives believe it was a targeted shooting and that preliminary ballistics evidence indicated that the shooting had occurred at the location where the body was discovered. Detectives believe that the dead victim and his killer or killers were on the tract before the shooting and there does not appear to be any threat to the community, Modica stated.
Malibu Times will keep readers informed of any new details revealed by authorities with regard to this crime. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact sheriff’s homicide investigators, Soderlund stated. The telephone number is: (323) 890-5500.
The article was updated to correct a name and title of Sgt. Chris Soderlund.