Police investigate shooting near Hollywood tourist hub

LOS ANGELES — Homicide detectives searched for clues on Monday to the unsolved shotgun slaying of a woman ambushed while walking along the street a few blocks from the heart of Hollywood’s tourist hub, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

The woman, a local resident, was killed on Sunday night when a gunman crept up behind the victim and shot her in the head as she was strolling with a male companion near Sunset Boulevard, police and coroner’s officials said.

The suspect then made his getaway in a black sedan and was still at large as of Monday, according to police.

Authorities identified the victim as 30-year-old Carrie Jean Melvin, who lived in Hollywood.

An LAPD spokeswoman, officer Sara Faden, said the motive for the shooting remained a mystery, with no immediate evidence of whether the killing was a random act of violence or a targeted attack.

Police Commander Andrew Smith told the Los Angeles Times that investigators were not aware of any similar shootings, leading them to believe it was “an isolated incident.”

The Times reported eight people have been killed during the past 12 months within a mile of Sunday’s shooting, which occurred three blocks from the intersection of Highland Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard, near Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Dolby Theatre complex where the Oscars are held each year.

Faden said detectives were canvassing the area near the murder scene for possible eyewitnesses and surveillance cameras that may have captured the shooting.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Eric Beech)