Simi Resident Held in Fatal Shooting

A Simi Valley man has been arrested in connection with a shooting that left one man dead in a vacant Panorama City apartment, authorities said Wednesday.

Michael Williams, 37, was arrested after detectives interviewed witnesses in the slaying Monday, Van Nuys homicide Det. Dan Dejarnette said.

Gregory Watson, 40, died at the apartment building at about 9 that morning. Neighbors heard the shots and called police, who found the man dead with a bullet wound in the chest.

“We held on to him for a while because we knew there was something about his story and the circumstances of the crime that led to him,” Dejarnette said.

While officers questioned Williams and sought further evidence, they booked him on suspicion of false representation of identity to a police officer, saying he gave a false name. Dejarnette said the charges against the man will be changed to murder today.

Dejarnette said police believe Williams shot the man in a dispute over money. Officers believe Watson was a transient who was sleeping in the empty apartment.