Man shot and killed outside Coldwater Canyon party

A man was shot and killed early this morning outside a New Year's Eve party at a hillside home in Coldwater Canyon, police said.

The body was found slumped on a curb across the street from the four-story tan stucco home in the 3900 block of Avenida del Sol, just east of Harvard-Westlake School and St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church. Police have not publicly identified the victim.

The large home on the winding street of three- and four-story houses, in sight of ridgetop spreads with canyon views, had been rented by three men, one of whom was out of town, police sources said. It was unclear who organized the party, but someone passed out fliers at 6 p.m. New Year’s Eve inviting neighbors to a “Winter Wonderland,” according to several residents, who declined to be identified.

The fliers asked visitors to “dress to impress” for appetizers and an open bar, with music by “DJ Swivll.” They also asked neighbors to call the home if the party grew too loud; several said it was not particularly noisy.

The celebration was winding down about 4 a.m. when the man -- described as in his 20s, dressed casually in sneakers and a sweatshirt -- walked up the street from his car in the church parking lot. Several guests were still gathered outside. The man was seen speaking to at least one other person just before he was shot four or five times at close range, police said.

“Some people were milling about in the street after the conclusion of the party when the shooting occurred,” said Lt. Alan Hamilton of the Los Angeles Police Department’s North Hollywood Division.

By the time firefighters arrived, everyone had left. A police source with knowledge of the investigation described the party house as filthy, devoid of furniture, with muddy, scuffed hardwood floors. Vomit was seen on the patios.

“Picture the aftermath of the biggest college party,” the source said.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. A stream of blood trickled down the street several feet, pooling in a small spot just uphill from the church.

One neighbor said he regularly saw a brand-new Bentley without license plates and a Cadillac Escalade parked outside the home. Police believe that one of the residents worked in entertainment, but his position was unknown. Police were preparing this afternoon to tow away a white Chevrolet Tahoe parked at one of the church’s parking lots, as well as a silver Ford Mustang.

Neighbor Meredith Adams, 69, said she awoke to gunshots at 4 a.m.

“I heard three sharp shots, and that’s all I know,” Adams said. “I told my husband, and he said not to worry about it, that it’s probably just a New Year’s thing.”

But when Adams and her husband, Lawrence,  got up later that morning, the police and the coroner’s office had closed off their street.

“It was kind of a shock,” Adams said. “This neighborhood never sees this sort of thing.”

--Andrew Blankstein, Nathan Olivarez-Giles and Rong-Gong Lin II

Comments

[concerned citizen]

I also live in the hills and there is a "party house" that sounds a lot like this one -- a huge place which holds periodic parties that attract people from the clubs on the strip/ Hollywood where they advertise. Probably charge admission and let in hundreds of young people, noise all night into the next morning, I've had to call the police at 4=5 a.m. because it still wasn't dying down and the whole canyon shook with the noise. I'm not sure who owns it, but no one lives in it fulltime, I'm told by neighbors the owners are Russian or Russian=speaking Israelis involved in "the film business" and various shady dealings, to be able to afford a huge house like that, without living in it, just as a renal. They rent it for movie shoots also.

There was another house like that until it was sold -- that was rented by 4 young men, film students who rented it for movie shoots and parties while they lived in it. The hundreds of young people parking and making noise was unbelievable, we had to keep calling the police, and they finally moved out, to greener pastures.

The police must make note of these kinds of houses -- unfortunately, when we call about them, it's regarded as just another private house with a loud party until there are so many calls, or something like this happens.

[KansasGirl]

Your neighborhood has seen it now lady.