Gerold Lipeles was 69 when he was shot while asleep in his wheelchair outside a McDonald’s on West Century Boulevard in South Los Angeles on May 17, 2022. A woman approached him in the early hours and shot him in the head; he was taken to a hospital and died five days later. Lipeles was a double amputee and a military veteran who was unhoused at the time.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation led to multiple arrests. Rubi Aguiano-Salazar, 37, was identified as the primary suspect and was charged with one count of murder, one count of attempted murder, and two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon; the attempted murder charge relates to an alleged shooting of another homeless person, Stella Polly, four days after Lipeles was shot. Two other men, Raymundo Hernandez, 34, and Blas Canche, 32, were also arrested in connection with Lipeles’ death; Hernandez was charged with one count of murder while Canche’s role remained under investigation.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office called the killing disturbingly brutal and callous, noting Lipeles’ vulnerability as an unhoused double amputee. Does anyone have information about Lipeles, his time in the area, or the people arrested?