[dropcap size=big]A[/dropcap] homicide investigation is underway after two people were found shot to death Monday morning inside an illegally operated marijuana dispensary in Koreatown, authorities said.
Los Angeles police officers at 4:20 am responded to a call of a shooting at The Journey 447 pot shop at 447 South Western Avenue, where they found a “locked and secured marijuana dispensary,” according to a statement by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Officers were told by a female employee of the dispensary that she was inside the dispensary, along with several customers, when she heard shots fired in the waiting room. The employee said that she and the customers inside fled the location through the back door.
The police then got into the shop and located two shooting victims in the waiting room of the cannabis shop. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene. LAPD said it appears the shooting was the result of a robbery gone awry. The dispensary was operating without a license, the police said.
The victims' identities or sex were not released.
The Journey 447 could have been used as an after hours party spot, according to an employee at a neighboring businesses.
he pot shop shares a parking lot with Han Bat Shul Lung Tang, a Korean restaurant next door. Management of the 447 S. Western storefront had recently changed, according to the security guard at the parking lot.
“It used to close at a reasonable hour, and then about 10 days ago, it became a 24-hour party place,” the security guard told L.A. Taco. The Journey 447 website indicates a 10 pm closing time.
Candles were set on the sidewalk in front of the business on Western on Tuesday evening. At the time, the store’s two CCTV cameras facing the street were apparently still operating.
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