Body with Gunshot Wound Found in Monterey Park was East L.A. College Basketball Player

Updated at 8:30 p.m. June 9, 2016

MONTEREY PARK, CA -- An East Los Angeles College basketball player who had been with friends celebrating his birthday was found fatally shot in the back seat of a car in Monterey Park on Thursday

Monterey Park police officers investigating a report of gunfire found the victim about 5 a.m. in the back seat of a locked Mercedes-Benz with its lights on in the 800 block of West El Repetto Drive, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Authorities withheld the name of the man, pending notification of his relatives, however, relatives identified him as Saieed Ivey, a freshman guard at East Los Angeles College.

"I don't know why it happened," East L.A. College basketball coach John Mosley told the Chicago Sun-Times. "It's something I've never been a part of with such a great human being."

Mosley told the paper Ivey didn't play this season so he could "focus on school."

"He was getting ready to play for us next season," he said.

Thursday was Saieed's 20th birthday.

Sheriff's Lt. Eddie Hernandez told reporters at the scene the young man was with a group of others and went to an apartment he shares with his brother.

"He was with his group of friends for some time after they got here and for (an) unknown reason asked for the keys to that car -- that car doesn't belong to him, it belongs to a person that was in his group -- and says, 'I'm going to go down to the car,' " Hernandez said. "He goes down to the car and some time after that, we don't know how long, the gunshot was reported."

"Initial speculation that the shooting death was officer-involved is false," according to the sheriff's department. "There were no officers or deputies involved in the incident ... ."

Whoever shot Saieed remains outstanding and no suspect information has been made available.

Sheriff's detectives were leading the homicide investigation.

-- City News Serivce, photo via Shutterstock