Overview
- The intruder arrived on Tujunga Avenue, stripped, behaved erratically, and forced his way into a residence where he threatened a female tenant.
- The tenant’s landlord, a 79-year-old Vietnam War veteran identified in some reports as Mr. Mendoza, responded to her screams and confronted the intruder.
- Witnesses and LAPD Capt. Warner Castillo say the intruder body‑slammed the landlord onto concrete, breaking both of the elderly man’s legs.
- The landlord then fired three shots, killing the intruder at the scene; he was hospitalized and underwent surgery for his leg fractures.
- Security and cellphone video support witness accounts, a formal investigation is underway, and no charges are expected at this stage, though LA County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman will decide.