Slain NBCUniversal executive and alleged shooter were close friends, suspect's attorney says [Updated]
It was at the end of a St. Patrick Day’s gathering when Brian Russell Kaplon and his childhood friend, David Andrew Armstrong, went into the garage of Armstrong’s home in a gated community in Porter Ranch.
Armstrong kept a collection of guns in the garage. What happened next is unclear because Kaplon, an executive at NBCUniversal, and Armstrong, a marketing executive, were the only ones in the room. But just after midnight March 18, Kaplon suffered a fatal gunshot wound from one of Armstrong’s miltary-style rifles.
At first, Los Angeles Police Department detectives thought the shooting might be an accident. But on Thursday, they arrested Armstrong, who was charged by prosecutors with one count of murder. Authorities have not provided details of what happened but said they decided to make the arrest after reviewing physical evidence at the scene.
“Both of the men were in the garage with a rifle when one man shot and killed the other man. There are no other witnesses,” said LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese. “The other man made a statement that was taken into consideration before it was determined to be a homicide.”
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office alleged in court papers filed Thursday that Armstrong “personally and intentionally discharged a firearm, a rifle, which caused great bodily injury and death to Brian Kaplon…” He faces up to 25 to life in prison if convicted on all charges.
Armstrong’s attorney, James Blatt, said the shooting was a tragic accident involving two close friends who had been drinking at Armstrong’s gathering.
Blatt said Armstrong immediately called 911 after the shooting and tried to provide medical assistance.
[Updated at 5:25 p.m.: A law enforcement source confirmed that there had been a gathering at Armstrong’s home. But someone close to the Kaplon family said Brian Kaplon went there to get a haircut and did not attend the party. This source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also said that the men’s wives were close friends but that Kaplon and Armstrong were more acquaintances.]
Kaplon, who worked in the finance department at NBCUniversal, was described by friends and co-workers as affable and creative. He was married with one child, with twins due to be born in May.
The shooting occurred at Armstrong's home in the 20000 block of Vercelli Way at 12:45 a.m. Kaplon was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 15 minutes later. An LAPD source told The Times that Armstrong was showing Kaplon an AR15 rifle when a round from the weapon discharges into Kaplon’s chest.
Kaplon’s father said police had initially told the family the shooting was an accident. But a few days later, detectives returned to say they believed it was a homicide. He said Armstrong had several guns in his house, including rifles.
“Because of one of those guns I had to bury my son,” Joe Kaplon said.
Records show that Armstrong was detained by police after the shooting but released. But on Thursday, he was arrested.
Blatt said the two families were extremely close and that the Armstrongs are devastated.
“Mr. Armstrong, his wife and his entire family are devastated by the terrible loss of his best friend and are hopeful that the truth will come out in the near future that this was a tragic accident,” he added. “They were best friends since 5th grade they were like brothers. Wives were very close. Each family was an intergral part of the other family's life.”
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--Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein
Photo: Brian Russell Kaplon. KTLA News
EDITOR'S PICKS:
Been giving this a lot of thought and felt sympathy for David but why the possible cover up. And bottomline is anyone knows a gun, unloaded or not, is never pointed at a person so not sure why this happened.
Posted by: jC | March 25, 2011 at 03:35 PM
I worked with Brian at NBC Universal a few years ago, just unbelievable what happened, such a nice guy.
My sincerest condolences to his family.
Posted by: Deanne Fabro | March 25, 2011 at 03:39 PM
What a horrible tragedy and unfortunate example of keeping loaded firearms in the house. Seriously, what could be worse than accidentally shooting your best friend. I doubt this was murder, just bad judgement.
Posted by: Pete Sake | March 25, 2011 at 03:51 PM
I went to high school with both the victim and accused. Although not close with either, I am devastated by this incident and my heart goes out to both wives who have both, in a sense, lost their husbands. As I understand, these families were extremely close and I'd like to think that this was an incredibly tragic accident. Over the last week I have heard many pieces of confusing evidence--- this article says both men were drinking, but I had heard that only the accused had alcohol found in his system. Also, if it was a "party", who else was home? Who else responded to the gunshot that can speak to the accused's state of being and response? I have to imagine that responding to an accident of this caliber, one would be absolutely distraught. I'm sure that this was a horrible horrible accident, and the prosecuters feel it their responsiblity to investigate as murder.
Posted by: anonymous | March 25, 2011 at 03:57 PM
Boy, I'd sure love to know what makes the cops think this guy killed his friend on purpose. Because it sure sounds like it could only be an accident...
Posted by: JimBob | March 25, 2011 at 04:10 PM
Accidents are common with guns. And this rifle was worst in Vietnam with many manufacture cover ups. Do the police or D.A. ever investigate this? So they taxpayers aren't paying thousands to railroad someone when these government agencies are so dumb to realize this gun is a major problem! The LA Police or D.A are lame brains. So many false arrests and charges. I'm surprised they had the time to investigate it --- since most of them wallow away at Starbucks or wherever they go...
Posted by: pasadena jag | March 25, 2011 at 04:13 PM
This guy committed cold blooded murder and it was probably planned over a long period of time. 'No motive' should be 'no known motive,' since this killer had some reason for pulling the trigger. As a big shot at NBC he probably thinks he is above the law. Let us not forget that one of the producers of CBS' Survivor, bumped his wife off down in Mexico a few months ago, another self-entitled SOB who thinks he can play God. Regarding this case, the shooter is a gun owner, with a weapon stash that would make any gang banger proud, meaning he knows what they are and what they can do, so pleading it 'accidentally' went off, is preposterous. It is stone cold murder and he should burn for it. I hope no one even thinks of coming to the defense of this obious killer.
Posted by: nobleone | March 25, 2011 at 04:29 PM
i have been at parties where the homeowner does start taking out his gun collection and it was pretty scary what 1 other guest was doing. waving guns around totally drunk. fortunately the gun owner was a former marine and he made sure each gun was not loaded before showing it off. (even though he was pretty wasted as well).
hard to know what the cops are saying so far, since they aren't saying anything, but i guess they came up w/ some motive -- or it's just the prosecutor being evil and wanting blood from an accident, so just inventing a charge out of thin air.
Posted by: bill lane | March 25, 2011 at 04:35 PM
It's not the fault of the loaded firearm. It is about the improper handling of the firearm. Let's not blame the gun now.
Posted by: Hugh G. Rekshon | March 25, 2011 at 04:36 PM
"anyone knows a gun, unloaded or not, is never pointed at a person so not sure why this happened." You're not? It happened because they were drinking, like so many other bloody tragedies. If they had been doing weed instead of the dangerous stuff, this never would have happened.
Posted by: newageblues | March 25, 2011 at 04:37 PM
there is absolutely no reason to have a loaded AR-15 in your garage.
Posted by: woody | March 25, 2011 at 05:01 PM
Apparently, the neighbors heard the two of them in the garage shouting "Shots! Shots! Shots! Shots!" when Armstrong took it a little too far.
Posted by: JimmyB | March 25, 2011 at 05:15 PM
I am guessing that this guy's story has changed, and that is why he was arrested. It does seem weird that a "gun collector" could make such a rookie mistake -- never point a gun at anyone, and always treat one as if it was loaded.
Posted by: lwps | March 25, 2011 at 05:42 PM
The defense attorney, Blatt, is playing a devious hand. Brian and Dave were FAR from best friends. In fact, the only reason why Brian associated with him is because their wives were friends.
Posted by: anonymous | March 25, 2011 at 05:44 PM
If guns were outlawed, only outlaws will accidentally shoot their childhood friends.
Posted by: James T | March 25, 2011 at 08:05 PM