Gunfire erupts at popular South L.A. restaurant, wounding two people

Gunfire erupted at a popular restaurant in South Los Angeles late Monday afternoon, leaving two people wounded, police said.

The shooting occurred about 4:15 p.m. after two people began arguing inside Carolyn’s Kitchen in the 800 block of East Manchester Avenue, Los Angeles Police Officer Mike Lopez said. The pair left but returned shortly later with at least one weapon and opened fire.

After the shooting, the pair tried to drive away, but crashed in the restaurant’s parking lot. They then fled on foot.

Minutes later, two people matching the suspects’ description carjacked a woman down the street, Lopez said.

The pair subsequently showed up at a hospital with unknown injuries and were arrested on suspicion of carjacking. Detectives are investigating whether they are the same men involved in the shooting.

The two shooting victims were taken to a hospital and are expected to survive. One was shot in the leg, Lopez said, and the other was shot in the abdomen.

KNBC-TV Channel 4 reported that during the shooting, customers and employees ducked for cover, using tables and chairs as shields. Footage taken at the restaurant showed windows blown out and casings on the ground.

Restaurant employee Tizinski Bailey told KCBS-TV Channel 2 that two customers got into a fight and that he and other employees tried to break it up. That’s when one of the customers left and came back with a gun, the station reported.

“Started shooting inside the restaurant. As he’s shooting, he’s backing up,” Bailey told the station. “As he’s shooting, and he’s shooting through the glass and stuff like that. Couple of bullets went past me. I ducked down.”

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AleneTchek