Street vendor, a father of four, recovering after being shot in series of armed robberies
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WATTS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A shooting left 32-year-old Jose Luis Millan, a father of four children, with a foot-long scar on his stomach.
“My heart was beating really fast. I was scared. I didn’t know what was going to happen to him,” said Nancy Barrios, Millan’s wife.
The incident happened around 8 p.m. on April 30 near Kalmia Street and 99 Place in Watts.
“I yelled help like three times, and I told people if they could help me,” Millan said in Spanish.
Shortly after the incident, the Los Angeles Police Department said Millan was one of three victims involved in a series of connected armed robberies that happened in Watts in late April and early May.
A day before Millan was shot, he said his wife told him she was pregnant.
“I was thinking about all of that,” said Millan. “All of that came to my mind and said ‘If something happens to me, what is going to be of them?'”
Millan said a person approached him, asked him for corn and shot him in the stomach.
“I was in shock. I couldn’t believe that had just happened to him, like in a minute,” said Barrios. “Things just happen like that, really fast.”
Millan said he is the only one who works in his family, but isn’t sure when he’ll be able to work again. He’s still recovering and said he is trying to figure out how to pay for the medical expenses. Relatives are helping the family and have also created a GoFundMe page.
“Right now, anything, even $10 or $20, it’s a lot for us because we need it. When you don’t have a job, and you’re in this situation, it’s really hard,” said Barrios.
The LAPD has not yet replied to a request for an update on the case, but according to the initial report from police, two juvenile suspects had been arrested and police were looking for a third potential suspect.
According to LAPD, the second shooting victim was a juvenile who was in serious condition, and the third armed robbery victim was an adult man who is OK.
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