ARCADIA, CA — A 15-year-old girl was fatally shot by a man at her Arcadia home Thursday, and the suspected killer remained hospitalized in critical condition Friday after shooting himself in Pasadena, according to authorities.
The 20-year-old suspect was in a "dating relationship" with the teen, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner's office identified the girl as Mina Kurdian. The man, Paul Anthony Cruz Jr., is suspected of forcing his way into her home and shooting her, according to the Sheriff's Department.
Arcadia police responded at about 11 a.m. Thursday to reports of a disturbance and gunfire at an apartment complex in the 800 block of West Huntington Drive.
Officers found Kurdian suffering from a gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene, NBC Los Angeles reported.
Cruz fled before police arrived, according to investigators.
About an hour later, Pasadena police located Cruz in a shopping center parking lot near the end of the 110 Parkway, at East Glenarm Street. As officers attempted to contact him, Cruz pulled out a gun and shot himself, authorities said.
He was taken to a hospital in critical condition, where he remained Friday morning.
Witnesses described hearing gunfire and screams at the Arcadia apartment complex before police arrived.
"We heard a woman screaming," neighbor Daisy Valdez told KTLA. "We heard her asking for an ambulance. It sounded like it was a mom for sure."
In Pasadena, workers at an auto body shop across the street from the second shooting told ABC 7 they heard a gunshot and saw officers converge on the parking lot.
"We look out the window, there's this guy, he's laying face down on the floor," Michael Amini, manager at Alliance Auto Body Works, told the station. "A couple seconds later, police officers show up and they close off the area."
The motive for the killing remains under investigation.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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