Mytatiyana Wynekasherrie Conner, 27

Mytatiyana Wynekasherrie Conner, a 27-year-old black woman, was shot and killed Saturday, March 28, in the 22500 block of Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

About 12:45 a.m., Conner was involved in “some kind of argument or confrontation” that evolved into a gun battle in the parking lot of the Gable House Bowl bowling alley, said Torrance Police Sgt. Paul Kranke. Multiple shots were fired, Kranke said, but the only person struck appeared to be Conner, who lived in the Westmont area of Los Angeles, about 15 miles northeast of Torrance.

Investigators have made no arrests and have little information about what happened that morning, Kranke said. Of the three suspects arrested that evening, one remains in custody on a parole violation, one is in jail on an unrelated warrant and the third has been released, he said. No charges have been filed in relation to Conner's killing.

Police officers found one semi-automatic pistol at the scene underneath a parked car and are checking it for fingerprints and other evidence to try to determine if it was involved in the shooting, Kranke said.

“We believe this shooting is possibly gang related, but we don’t have a lot of people coming forth with information,” he said.

Mickey Cogan, the general manager of the bowling alley, said the people involved in the shooting did not come inside the bowling alley that night. He said his security guards saw three cars and a minivan pull into the parking lot about 12:45 a.m.

The bowling alley’s security cameras recorded six to eight shots that were fired almost immediately after the cars drove into the lot, he said. 

“They weren’t out of their cars more than 10 seconds before the shots were fired,” Cogan said. “One car didn’t even park in a parking space; it just stopped in the middle of the parking lot, the people jumped out and immediately ran for cover because shots were being fired.”

Cogan said some of the people from the minivan tried to run into the bowling alley but security had locked the building and wouldn’t let anyone in or out. He said the victim appeared to come from one of the cars and not the minivan.

Many customers had to find other ways home, since the police wouldn’t let any of the cars out of the parking lot until they processed the crime scene, he said. Patrol officers who happened to be driving near the bowling alley when the shooting occurred pulled over one of the cars as it was leaving the parking lot and detained the three men inside.

In the meantime, Kranke said, a driver in another car was trying to take Conner to the hospital. Instead, his car collided with two cars waiting at a stop light about a quarter-mile from the bowling alley.

Police officers called an ambulance. Conner was unresponsive but still breathing when paramedics took her to the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Kranke said.

She was pronounced dead at the hospital at 9:10 that morning, said Ed Winter, assistant chief of investigations coroner’s office. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the Torrance Police Department detectives' division, (310) 618-5741. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

-- Jeanette Marantos