A 15-year-old girl who was shot and killed by her 20-year-old boyfriend inside her Arcadia home Thursday was identified by Los Angeles authorities Friday.
The LA County Medical Examiner’s Office said the teenage victim was Mina Kurdian.
The suspect, Paul Anthony Cruz Jr., forced his way into the home on Huntington Drive near Baldwin Avenue at around 11 a.m. Thursday and fired his weapon, police said. The 20-year-old man and the 15-year-old girl had been dating before the fatal shooting, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
After receiving a call about the shooting, officers with Arcadia police responded to the home and found the girl with gunshot wounds. She died at the scene, police said.
About an hour after the victim was found, officers with Pasadena police found Cruz five miles away, near the corner of Fillmore Street and South Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena. Authorities said he shot himself before officers could contact him.
As of Friday, Cruz remained in critical condition at a hospital after shooting himself in the head, multiple law enforcement sources told NBC4 Investigates Friday.
“They tried to arrest him. They tried to get his attention, and before they reached out to him, he took a gun out and shot himself,” said Edgar Perez, who witnessed the incident.
Cruz was not listed in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s online inmate information system as of Friday afternoon.
The investigation is ongoing, authorities said.
