Just two weeks after legislature forces 400 California Medical Marijuana Dispensary closures, violence breaks out in Southern California—with two dispensaries robbed only hours apart--three people shot and two dead, in violent robberies occurring only five miles apart.
Two male Medical Marijuana Dispensary employees were shot during the first robbery—one suspect fled on foot, another suspect fled by car. One male employee was killed, another injured, at the afternoon shooting inside an Echo Park Medical Marijuana Dispensary clinic named The Higher Path. The Medical Marijuana facility is located on Sunset Boulevard. The facility's robbery resulted in two victims, one now dead--both victims described as Latino males, and both men being employees of The Higher Path dispensary.
The dispensary employees were apparently shot after several armed suspects entered the Medical Marijuana facility near 4:00 PM on Sunset Boulevard, in Los Angeles (Southern California). Residents of 1320 Sunset Boulevard were not allowed to enter or leave the building--the building surrounded by police officers in immediate aftermath of the violence.
Despite LAPD police officer presence, two suspects were able to escape from the first robbery location at The Higher Ground marijuana facility. Only hours later, a second Medical Marijuana Dispensary robbery occurred--just miles away.
In the second JUne 24 robbery and shooting--occurring in Hollywood, California--a third man was shot (the second man murdered during the two dispensary robberies of the day) at the Hollywood Wholistic Medical Marijuana Facility.
Police aren’t saying whether the marijuana robbery attempts and subsequent murders are related to one another—distance and fatal shootings must be pure coincidence. There’s probably about as much coincidence as the onslaught of violence following closure of 400 medical marijuana facilities and reduced availability of the drug.