Thursday, May 6, 2010

Hawaiian Gardens, CA: Jilted boyfriend held in deadly LA-area assault

BY NOAKI SCHWARTZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2010 AT 10:47 A.M.

HAWAIIAN GARDENS, Calif. — The man suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend and her brother after storming into their parents' California home was only grazed by a deputy's bullet and has not been hospitalized.

The Los Angeles County sheriff's office says 27-year-old Joseph Mercado was taken to a sheriff's station Thursday and booked for investigation of murder.

Sheriff's Lt. Don Slawson says Mercado was grazed in the head by a deputy's bullet during the confrontation in Hawaiian Gardens.

Authorities claim that Mercado was upset over a breakup with his girlfriend and went to her family's home south of Los Angeles shortly before 4 a.m.

Investigators claim he went room to room, killing the woman and her brother and wounding her parents.

Slawson says the gunman had brought gasoline and planned to burn down the home.

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