Jewelry Merchant Shot and Killed in Botched Robbery

NORTHRIDGE —  A jewelry store owner who planned to close his business at the end of the month was shot and killed by robbers shortly before noon Thursday, authorities said.

In what police called “a robbery gone wrong,” two men walked into Sunrise Jewelers in the 8900 block of Tampa Avenue about 11:20 a.m. and attempted to rob the store.

They shot the store owner several times in the chest and face with a handgun, police said, leaving rings and necklaces scattered on the floor around him. Two employees of a nearby store who heard the shots attempted to revive the man, but he died at the scene.

Police identified the slain man as Karo Zeytounyan, 44, of Diamond Bar. His brother-in-law, Noubar Sadikian, said Zeytounyan was a native of Yerevan, Armenia, and a married father of two.

Moments after the shooting, witnesses said they saw two or three men sprinting from the store, located in the busy Walnut Grove Shopping Center.

A suspect was arrested with the help of a witness who chased him, police said. Two other people were taken to the police station for questioning, but were later released. Police said two other robbers remained at large Thursday night.

The man arrested was identified as 27-year-old Gaik Papazyan, who was booked on suspicion of murder and was being held at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Devonshire Division station in lieu of $1 million bail.

“At least one witness chased after them and helped the police” catch the suspect, said Capt. Joseph Curreri of the Devonshire Division. “A robbery gone wrong, that’s what it was.”

The store had a security camera, but Curreri said police were not sure if it was working.

The jeweler planned to close his struggling business later this month and go to work at his brother’s jewelry store in North Hollywood, shopkeepers and family members said.

Relatives and fellow merchants were stunned and saddened by the jeweler’s death.

“If you knew 5,000, if you knew 10,000 people, you would not find a guy, a good guy like this,” Sadikian said. “ . . . He was going to quit and work with his brother. He was the nicest guy.”

Linda Peck, who works at the hair salon next door to the jewelry store, said she saw three well-dressed men--one in a trench coat--sprinting frantically across the parking lot when she drove in to work.

“I just can’t believe it,” Peck said. “He was the nicest person.”

Shopper Clara Pente agreed: “He was so sweet, the nicest man.

“He was going to close the store,” she added. “He told me everything in the store was for sale. He was cute. He was funny. He even said he was for sale. I can’t believe he’s gone.”