UPDATE: Man Shot to Death After Trying to Save His Grandfather From Robbers, Police Say

A 24-year-old man trying to help his father during an armed robbery by three men near the family's house on the 8000 block of Coldwater Canyon Avenue in North Hollywood was shot and critically wounded Monday night, police said.

"At approximately 6:45 p.m., officers responded to a call of 'shots fired' here in the area of Coldwater Canyon and Willard Street. Out of that, we found a man who had been shot in the upper torso," North Hollywood Division LAPD Lt. Alan Hamilton said. "He'd been transported to Holy Cross Hospital in critical condition. We're conducting a robbery investigation at this time."

Hamilton said the gunshot victim "was not the victim of a robbery, but he was attempting to assist the victim of a robbery on Coldwater Canyon when he was shot by the suspects."

The grandfather was unhurt, according to police. Police identified the victim this morning as Danilo Estuardo Morales. [Earlier reports indicated Morales was 35 and the robbery victim's son, but it is now believed he is his grandson.]

Police are looking for three Hispanic males, ages 15 to 20 years old, in a "white or light-colored, possibly a Mitsubishi Montero, but definitely a midsize SUV, with a red reflector across the rear, and a punched-out rear window."

Hamilton detailed that the shooting incident started at a house on the 8000 block of Coldwater Canyon Avenue, where the robbery victim tried to alert his family, yelling to them as he was being robbed. Hearing this, the other family members attempted to assist him during the robbery, which occurred outside their house. At that point, a first gunshot was fired. It did not strike anyone.

The family members then chased the fleeing suspects as they ran to their vehicle, according to police. The family members caught up to the suspects in their vehicle on Willard Street, where another shot was fired, striking Morales as they drove away, according to police. The victim collapsed in the street where he was found by the responding officers and the rescue ambulance.

One family member was able to punch out a rear window of the fleeing vehicle, Hamilton said, adding that the vehicle was last seen traveling westbound on Willard Street.

Hamilton said Morales' family members did not recognize any of the suspects. But he also said that police do not know at this point if this was a random act.

On August 20, 2011, in a shooting at a party about a block away on the 8100 block of Coldwater.

A longtime resident of the neighborhood, Wagner Rodrigues, commented, "I hate to see this stuff happen in my neighborhood. I grew up here." Asked about this particular area, Rodrigues said, "Willard is a pretty nice street."

A neighbor across the street from the crime scene, Oscar Soriano, said he heard the gunfire as he was watching TV in his bedroom.

"I heard the first shot, Then a bit later, I heard the second shot. And after that I heard a woman yelling, crying out in the street; I think it was the mother. (of the victim)," Soriano said.

Asked how he knew it was gunshots he heard, Soriano said, "I knew it was gunshots. I've heard them around here before."

Asked if he heard the shots from the shooting during the summer, right up the street, Soriano said, "Where the two people died? I didn't hear that. That's a little farther away."

At about the time Lt. Hamilton finished answering questions from the media, a woman's voice was heard wailing loudly and uncontrollably. Her wails came from a corner house at the intesection of Coldwater Canyon and Willard Street, where the family members of the victim were located. Their own home and property was being searched for evidence. LAFD was called to the corner house to aid a woman having respiratory problems, but she was not taken away in the ambulance. It is believed that the crying woman had just learned that Morales had just died.

Coldwater Canyon Avenue was shut down between Strathern Street and Califa Street due to the robbery and homicide investigation. LAPD officers and detectives scoured the family's house, the lawns, sidewalks and the streets nearby for any bit of evidence. A search continues for the suspects and the vehicle, with information distributed to the California Highway Patrol and other agencies.

Lt. Hamilton advised the public on what to do if they find themselves being robbed. "You should comply with the robbers," he said. "Property can always be replaced."