Julio Cesar Betanco Jr., a 20-year-old Latino, was shot and killed on December 17, 2014, in the 8900 block of Helms Place in Mid-City, Los Angeles. The coroner’s records place the shooting shortly after 9 a.m. Betanco was involved in a shootout with two other people inside a residence; all three fled and were found within blocks of each other and taken to hospitals. Betanco was pronounced dead at 11:10 a.m.; the other two victims survived with critical injuries.

Police mounted an extended search for the shooters, briefly locked down nearby Hamilton High School, and later conducted a protective sweep of a house on Kramerwood Place after following a blood trail. Three people — two women and one man — were detained around 12:40 p.m., questioned, and released; no weapons were found and no arrests have been announced. The LAPD West Bureau Homicide is handling the investigation and is asking the public for information.

Did anyone in Mid-City see or hear anything that morning that might help investigators?