Tien Phuong Hua, 33

Tien Phuong Hua, a 33-year-old Vietnamese man, was killed in an officer-involved shooting Tuesday, Dec. 29, in the 3500 block of Strang Avenue in Rosemead, according to Los Angeles County coroner records.

Hua was shot in the backyard of his family home as officers were trying to serve arrest and search warrants connected to the fatal shooting of Henry Xavier Estrada, a 27-year-old Latino who was killed Sunday, Dec. 27, in the Hollywood Hills.

The dispute that led to the two shootings “appears to have been a relationship issue,” LAPD West Bureau Lt. John Radtke said.

Estrada was dating Hua’s ex-girlfriend, Radtke said, and the two had gone to a rental “party house” on North Sycamore Avenue, near Camrose Drive, the night Estrada was killed. Investigators think Hua used electronic communication to trick Estrada and his girlfriend into walking out of the house, Radtke said.

“They thought they were meeting someone else. They had no idea that Hua was drawing them out,” he said.

According to witnesses, Hua confronted the couple when they walked outside, and then chased Estrada up Camrose Drive and shot him, Radtke said. Hua then came back and tried to kidnap his former girlfriend, pulling her into his car, investigators say.

Hua became distracted, however, Radtke said, and the woman was able to escape before Hua drove east on Camrose Drive in his light-colored sedan.

Estrada was pronounced dead at the scene at 9 p.m. with multiple gunshot wounds, according to coroner’s records.  

Two days later, investigators got a warrant to arrest Hua on suspicion of murder in the Strang Avenue home where he lived with his parents.

Hua was alone at the house, Radtke said, and refused to come out. A SWAT team was called to the scene for crisis negotiations, according to the news release.

After several hours of unsuccessful negotiations, SWAT officers shot tear gas into the house to try to force Hua out about 8 p.m., The Times reported.

At some point, according to a department news release, Hua went into the backyard and climbed onto a storage shed with an “object in his hand.”

Officers ordered him to surrender, according to the release, but Hua “turned and pointed an object toward the officers.”

A SWAT officer fired his rifle, striking Hua, who fell from the storage shed into the backyard, police said.

Hua was pronounced dead at the scene with a gunshot wound at 9:12 p.m.

On Jan. 6, the LAPD identified the officer involved in the shooting as Officer III Richard Alba.

Investigators did not find a weapon next to Hua’s body, Radtke said, but they did find an intact handgun and pieces of another handgun in Hua’s car parked outside the house.

Investigators think the handgun pieces could have been from the weapon that killed Estrada, Radtke said. “It was consistent with the murder weapon, but we probably won’t be able to confirm it because it’s in pieces,” he said.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.