A down-and-out veteran was fatally stabbed after trying to break up a fight between a quarrelling couple at a Los Angeles-area homeless encampment, police say.
The victim died after being jabbed in the torso at least once Wednesday about 6:40 a.m. on the so-called ‘veteran’s row’, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said in a press release.
He was the second person killed by violence in the past six months in a case that’s once again prompting calls to declare a state of emergency over the California city’s housing crisis.
The latest victim had been attempting to intervene in a domestic dispute on the 11600 block of San Vincent Boulevard in Brentwood, an unincorporated Los Angeles neighborhood.
His suspected killer, also homeless, was arrested although the weapon was not recovered.
Veteran’s Row in Los Angeles was the scene of a stabbing Wednesday that killed one veteran
Dozens of tents – many bearing the U.S. flag – line veteran’s row, which is occupied by displaced former service members.
The commune, which appears neat and orderly, sits on federal land outside the Veteran’s Affairs campus, a government agency that provides services to honorably-discharged veterans.
There were 38 vets living on the strip as of May, according to Veteran’s Affairs.
GemBob Brookhyser, who lives in the encampment with his girlfriend, said he’s the one who called for help.
‘I woke up to the screams,’ he told The Los Angeles Times.
This is the second homicide to happen in the encampment in the past six months, police say
The stabbing on Wednesday was the second homicide near the encampment this year. A 34-year-old man was arrested in April after running over and killing a man living in a tent.
It prompted Los Angeles city attorney and mayoral candidate Mike Feuer to renew calls for an end to the veteran’s encampment.
‘Enough is enough, Feuer said in a press release. ‘It is time for there to be action, it is time for this encampment to end, for its residents to be housed, for the sidewalk to be cleared.’
Los Angeles sheriffs say the victim was stabbing after trying to breakup a domestic dispute
‘No one should live this way particularly when just on the other side of the fence there is shelter,’ Feuer, who visited the scene Wednesday, continued. ‘I’m here today in the wake of this most recent violence to call on County leaders to end this encampment. Its residents should be offered shelter and services and these sidewalks and public spaces must be safe and accessible to everyone.’
He also called for the county to declare a state of emergency over the crisis, echoing the previous calls from Los Angels County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
‘Three months ago I asked the to declare a state of emergency on the homelessness crisis. It’s good to see other elected leaders like begin to echo my request,’ the sheriff said on Twitter. ‘This isn’t a partisan issue and we can solve it by working together.’
The encampment began 13 years ago by the old Veteran’s Guard in protest over land use, U.S. army veteran Robert Rosebrock told NBC News.
Los Angeles city mayoral candidate Mike Feuer is calling on the encampment to be shut down
However, he said the strip of tents has since morphed into something that does not reflect the military’s core principles.
‘Wherever we go, we are a nation of rules and laws,’ Rosebrock told the station.
‘We have to obey them and be considerate of your fellow citizens.
‘This is not the way veterans conduct themselves. In the military you’re taught cleanliness, orderly, discipline. This is anything but that over here.’
Violence among Los Angeles’s homeless population is not unique to veteran’s row.
Last week, four people were injured after a Dodge smashed into a Los Angeles homeless encampment in the city’s Korea town neighborhood.
A homeless man who had been sleeping on a couch on the sidewalk was left pinned between the car and a tree.
There were 11,401 homeless veterans living in California last year, according to statistics.
The state is occupied by the highest number of homeless veterans in the nation; Florida trails with 2,436 homeless vets.
California is occupied more more homeless veterans than Florida, Texas, Washington, Oregon, New York, Colorado, and Pennsylvania combined.
Governor Gavin Newsom in July committed $12billion to tackling homelessness throughout a two-year period, with $45million earmarked for service and housing for homeless veterans.
Source: Daily Mail
