Law Student Is Shot and Killed in Midtown Manhattan
Updated: A law student from Los Angeles who was visiting New York was shot and killed on Monday afternoon in Midtown Manhattan a block from Central Park.
The victim, 31-year-old Brandon Woodard, had recently transferred to the University of West Los Angeles Law School from Whittier Law School, his stepfather told the City Room blog of the New York Times. He is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. City Room confirmed that Woodard had attended Whittier.
The shooter walked up to Woodard, shot him at close range, and then walked to a waiting Lincoln MKZ sedan, the New York Daily News reports. As a subsequent ABAJournal.com post details, authorities say the apparently targeted slaying was captured by a surveillance camera and have released a photo of a suspect being sought.
Woodard reportedly had a criminal record. He was facing a felony cocaine possession charge and was a suspect in a shoplifting incident, according to the New York Daily News. In two other cases, he had pleaded no contest to a hit-and-run charge and a misdemeanor theft from Whole Foods, the Daily News says.
Updated at 1:35 a.m. to remove information from the New York Daily News that Woodard was a student at Loyola Law School. A school spokesperson says Woodard was not a student there. Updated again at 5:14 p.m. to include information about suspect and surveillance footage and link to subsequent ABAJournal.com post.
