Soccer player killed outside his home
Los Angeles police were investigating Thursday after a 17-year-old high school soccer player was shot dead outside his home in northwest Los Angeles.
Francisco Rodriguez was lured outside his home in Winnetka, where he was shot multiple times in his front yard at about 6 p.m. PT on Wednesday, KTTV reported.
The victim was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Police said it was not a random shooting and that Rodriguez was targeted, according to KTTV.
Originally, detectives said they believed the shooter was a teenage girl who fled the scene, but they later admitted they did not know if that was true.
"They're kind of backing away from that," officer Karen Rayner told the Los Angeles Times.
Rodriguez, a member of the varsity boys' soccer team at El Camino High School, had played in a match just before he was gunned down.
"There was actually a soccer game tonight [Wednesday], and I guess as soon as he got here, someone was waiting for him at the door," Rodriguez's friend Sergio Hernandez told KTLA after the shooting.
Soccer coach Ian Kogan described Rodriguez as a "great kid" who loved to play soccer and "cared a lot" about his teammates and his school.