Clerk Slain, Store Owner Shot

A liquor store clerk was shot to death and the shop owner was critically wounded during an apparent robbery Monday afternoon near Exposition Park, Los Angeles police said.

Police Chief William J. Bratton has tentatively called a news conference for 1 p.m. today to address what a police spokesman termed a brutal crime.

“There was no reason to shoot them,” said Officer Eduardo Funes.

Three men are wanted in connection with the shootings at the A & J Liquor Store in the 2500 block of South Hill Street, Funes said.

The slain clerk was a man in his 40s, Funes said, and the owner is in his 60s.

Neither victim’s name was released.

Funes said a store security camera may have photographed the shootings.