Simone WilsonUpdate: Police have confirmed the victim's identity as well: 33-year-old Enedine Vigil.
Updated after the jump with LAPD confirmation: The shooter was Paul Matthew Allee, and officers were forced to subdue him with a Taser gun. Victim was 33 years old.
Update, 12 p.m.: The boyfriend of another resident blogs about the shooting. He claims the suspect is an aspiring Hollywood screenwriter named Paul, and the victim was his blonde, mid-30s fiancee Enedine. More details after the jump. Originally posted at 11:30 a.m.
A four-hour police standoff took place in the Hollywood wee hours this morning. LAPD officers waited on Hollywood Beoulevard from 3 a.m. to about 7 a.m. while a resident of the Hudson Apartments — suspected of killing his 25 33-year-old female roommate — refused to come outside.
The woman was fatally shot in the third-floor hallway, according to the LAPD. A resident from the fourth floor told LA Weekly that police knocked on his door just after 4 a.m. and told him to “get out — there's a shooter.”
The resident had to leave for work before the shooter emerged from the building, but before he did, officers asked him…
if he knew a “Paul” who lived on the third floor. At that time, he estimates there were about 30 Hudson residents waiting outside the Whitley Avenue entrance to the building. Officers had a gurney prepared right outside the entrance for the victim, and at least 12 police cars were parked on the blocked-off street.
The resident says he didn't hear a gunshot, but that the apartments are made of concrete, so “you can't hear anything.”
He adds: “OK, now I'm ready to start looking for a new apartment.”
The Hudson Apartments, located at 6533 Hollywood Blvd., enjoy a stretch of Walk of Fame celebrity stars as their front yard and a long, glamorous history in the entertainment capital of the world:
Welcome to a Hollywood Historic Classic located on the world famous “Walk of Fame.” Built 1917 by movie moguls Jesse L. Lasky and Samuel Goldwyn, the Hudson quickly became a Hollywood hotspot. Former residents from the silent era include Clara Bow, Stan Laurel, Viola Dana, Greta Garbo and Charlie Chaplin.
When the building was re-opened after a chic renovation/preservation project, Kat Von D (of “Miami Ink” and “LA Ink” fame) was one of its first residents.
Hollywood Boulevard was still closed between Whitley Avenue and Cahuenga Boulevard by 8 a.m.
Update: According to the blog Diary of a Hollywood Street King, allegedly written by the boyfriend of a Hudson Apartments resident, the victim was third-floor renter Enedine. The shooter, he claims, is Paul Allee, who allegedly shot his fiancee multiple times around 2:30 a.m.
The “Street King” writes:
“About ten minutes later I heard the cops in the hallways…turning door knobs and knocking on doors. That's when I overheard an officer saying it was a blonde woman right –I immediately thought it was my girlfriend's next door neighbor who they were talking about. I knew her well. Her name was Enedine. We ate Thanksgiving dinner together. CNN reported her age as 25, but she told us she was in her 30′s. Ededine was a friend of my girlfriend and I. Enedine's fiance Paul is the person who shot her…cold blooded…multiple times in her back…and one bullet ended up the wall of my girlfriend's bathroom.”
He then claims that Enedine had been running to his girl's apartment for help from her “deranged” fiance — hence her murder in the hallway — and goes on to analyze Paul's mental state:
“Paul once told me, 'This year I'm not taking any shit.' This is a guy who appeared harmless, so I didn't take him serious — but he is obviously crazy. Only a sick man would shoot his girl in the back multi times and goes back into his apartment. He didn't even try to escape but he held himself hostage to negotiate with the LAPD.”
Homicide detectives have not yet confirmed either Enedine or Paul's identity. However, the Hollywood blogger posted this photo of the couple:
Credit: Diary of a Hollywood Street King
Update: KTLA has a video of the suspect being escorted from the building in a gurney. The top of his head does match “Paul” in the above photo… but still no confirmation from the LAPD.
Update: At 4 p.m., the Los Angeles Police Department released this statement:
The suspect, Paul Matthew Allee, 32 years of age, is being held for murder on $1 million dollars bail.On January 4, 2011, at about 3 a.m., Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Hollywood Area Patrol Officers were called to the 6500 block of Hollywood Boulevard to investigate a “shots fired” radio call. When the officers arrived they found a 33-year old woman suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, lying in a hallway on the 3rd floor of the complex. Los Angeles Fire Department Paramedics pronounced the woman dead at scene a short time later.
A preliminary investigation led officers to the victim's apartment, where they made contact with Allee, the victim's roommate. Allee was uncooperative and refused to come out of the apartment and a stand off ensued. Since Allee was believed to be armed with a handgun, LAPD's SWAT Unit responded to the location, along with Department Crisis Negotiators. Negotiations continued with the suspect until around 7 a.m. when he was taken into custody after being subdued by a Taser device.
Officers recovered a hand gun at scene, which is believed to be the murder weapon. It is unclear at this stage of the investigation what the relationship was between Allee and the victim, and the motive has not yet been determined.
Allee was treated for minor injuries before being booked into LAPD Jail Division on murder charges.
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