Man On Murder Trial After Holding 2 Hostage Inside West Hollywood Apartment: UPDATED

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA — The murder trial for a man who was accused of holding two men hostage at knifepoint inside a West Hollywood apartment was postponed until August 18. The trial that was supposed to occur today, July 25, had been postponed in March, and was postponed for a second time. Alexander Tor McDonald, 30, allegedly pulled a knife and threatened to kill John Winkler and Liam Mulligan who were watching basketball with McDonald on April 7, 2014. Mulligan and McDonald were roommates at the time, as Patch previously reported.

Mulligan was shot by sheriff's deputies as he rushed out of the apartment clutching his neck, where he had been stabbed. Winkler rushed out after McDonald and a sheriff's deputy opened fire mistakenly assumed that Winkler was using Mulligan as a human shield, as Patch previously reported.

The Winkler family's lawsuit alleged that before the shooting, a woman in the apartment complex showed deputies photos of McDonald and Winkler, identifying McDonald as the alleged assailant, Patch learned. One deputy showed the photo of McDonald to other deputies, saying "Alex is our guy," according to the suit.

The county has since paid $7.5 million to settle claims brought by both the Winkler and Mulligan families.
After the mistaken identity shootings, deputies at the West Hollywood Sheriff's Station have gone through several training exercises to prevent the tragedy from happening in the future, Patch previously reported.

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