Alleged Hot Spot Café Shooter to Appear in Van Nuys Courthouse

As friends and family gathered for a friend's memorial service at the former on Riverside Drive in Valley Village on April 3, 2010,  a shooting spree broke out that left four men dead and two others injured.

After the shooting, Nerses Arthur Galstyan, 28, was named as a suspect in connection with the killings and Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck described the alleged gunman at the time as an "extremely dangerous person," noting "this was not a random act."

A preliminary hearing is scheduled with Galstyan in connection to the shootings on Tuesday in Van Nuys.

Capt. Kevin McClure of the LAPD's robbery-homicide division added, "Everybody inside that room knew each other."

Galstyan was captured by federal authorities in the Seattle area where he and his brother, who is not considered a suspect, fled to after the shooting.

According to authorities, Galstyan was among a group of people attending an afternoon birthday memorial service in honor of a friend who had died in an accident a year earlier,. Police speculate that a quarrel broke out and Galstyan began shooting, killing Hayk Yegnanyan, 25; Sarkis Karadjian, 26; Harut Baburyan, 28; and Vardan Tofalyan, 31; wounding two other men in the process.

In the wake of the shooting, the surrounding community has felt the blow as the Hot Spot Café closed as customers stayed away. Two months ago, businessman Spartak Karabedian opened the Village Mediterranean Grill at the same location but has found it difficult to convince locals to get past the restaurant's recent bloody history.

"The previous owner had a good business before that shooting," Karabedian explained, "but after the shooting everything was completely dead and people were scared to come here. I've received calls and when people find out this is where that happened they don't want to come anymore."

With security cameras now installed, Karabedian wants customers to know that they can feel at ease in his restaurant.

"You can feel absolutely safe," said Karabedian. "If you come to eat with a group of more than ten people, you can sit and we'll close the place and no one else will enter the main dining room, or the back patio. We want to make it safe and comfortable."

Karabedian said he was in fact friends with the victims and the alleged shooter, but was not present at the cafe during the shooting.

Galstyan, currently incarcerated in Los Angeles County, has been charged with four counts of first degree murder, two counts of attempted first degree murder and one count of mayhem, in addition to being indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly selling assault rifles with their serial numbers filed off or obliterated.

It was reported that one of the victims, Tofalyan, is believed to have been a co-conspirator with Galstyan in weapons dealing. It remains unclear if the slayings were at all related to the two men's alleged illegal dealings. Police have stated they do not know what sparked the argument at the restaurant.