New Stabbings

The following incident occurred in West Hollywood, California, on Monday, May 3, 2010.

Has the copycat effect of the Chinese knife attacks jumped the Pacific?

"There is no witness protection program!"

There are several things to note about this new event. The alleged attacker vaguely sounds like she was in the typical type of Sirhan Sirhan trance noted for some assailants.

Other mysteries abound. Where is this woman's shirt, in her mug photos, at top? What does her makeup and appearance suggest that has not been mentioned?

A woman who stabbed and wounded four people in a busy Target store Monday afternoon [May 3, 2010] was arrested when an off-duty sheriff's deputy pulled his gun and ordered the woman to the ground as screaming shoppers ran from the building, authorities said.

Layla Trawick used a butcher's knife and a carving knife to attack the victims, using both blades at the same time — one in each hand, like in the movie "Psycho," sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said

"She was literally walking up and down the aisles slashing people," he said.

A mother holding her baby was stabbed in the neck and was taken to the hospital, where she was in stable condition, Whitmore said. The baby was unhurt and all four victims were expected to survive.

One witness said she was shopping for a Mother's Day card when she heard someone screaming, "There is no witness protection program!" as chaos broke out in the store.

"I don't know what it means but she was yelling that repeatedly and at the top of her lungs," said Katy Winn, a freelance photographer from West Hollywood. "I think I heard (the deputy) telling her to drop to the floor. That's when things got really chaotic and started falling over."

Winn said she dropped her basket and dashed across the store to the women's section, where she hid behind the clothing racks.

"From the moment the screaming started it was about five minutes. But it felt longer than that," she said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Clay Grant Jr., said he was picking up paper towels and other items when people around him started running and screaming.

Grant, 26, grabbed his duty weapon, identified himself as a sheriff's deputy and ordered the woman to drop the knives, he said. She ran away and he followed her from aisle to aisle.

Grant was wearing a white T-shirt, camouflage shorts and running shoes so several shoppers mistook him for a gunman, adding to the sense of panic, sheriff's Sgt. Josh Mankini said.

Grant followed Trawick from aisle to aisle, until she turned and waved the knives at him from above her head, he said.

But he decided not to shoot because he didn't feel his life was in jeopardy, he said. For a second time, he ordered her to drop the knives and finally she complied.

"I was more concerned about the knife, more than what she was saying," Grant said. "Her facial expression was someone who was lost, confused, didn't know exactly where they were."

Trawick was arrested with the help of private security guards and held on $1 million bail on suspicion of attempted murder. Investigators were trying to determine whether the 34-year-old Antioch woman got the knives in the store.

Speaking to reporters at a sheriff's station later, Grant was modest.

"I don't feel like I'm a hero, I just do what I'm trained to do," he said.

Whitmore said surveillance video cameras captured the stabbings, but the tape hasn't been released.

"If he wasn't there, who knows? Someone would be dead right now," Mankini said. "He had no communication with outside law enforcement. He's just some guy doing his shopping. We're pretty proud of him."

Mankini said Grant, a five-year veteran of the department, was authorized to have a weapon in the store.

The above story was carried by Yahoo News.



In another detail from the LA Times, comes this:

Entertainment journalist Allison McNamara was shopping at the store when she encountered a screaming woman in the aisle that separates the skin care and kitchen sections.

"She was yelling 'I'm bipolar. There's no witness protection program.' "

Deputies with the sheriff's West Hollywood station responded after numerous 911 calls reported a gunman at the Target, Sgt. Josh Mankini said. Officials speculate the "gunman" was probably Grant.

Our thanks to SMiles Lewis for the newstips.

Sin City Star Dies: Brittany Murphy At 32

Brittany Murphy has died.

The 32-year-old actress went into full cardiac arrest early Sunday morning, December 20, 2009, following a 911 call from her husband, Simon Monjack, Variety reports. Around 8 a.m. local time, her mother found her unconscious in the shower in her home in the hills of West Hollywood. The star was pronounced dead upon arrival at 10:04 am on Sunday, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner confirms to E! News, "We do have a preliminary death report of a Brittany Murphy" coming from Cedars-Sinai.

Popular Movie Celebrity

Murphy starred in such films as 8 Mile, Uptown Girls, Sin City, Clueless and Don't Say a Word.

She also starred in the ironically named Drop Dead Gorgeous. Murphy's Drop Dead Gorgeous co-star Denise Richards lamented: "Brittany Murphy was in Drop Dead Gorgeous with me and was the sweetest and most adorable. Tragic, sad and devastating. Her poor family."

Murphy was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 10, 1977. Her parents divorced when she was two and she was raised by her mother, Sharon Murphy (Irish and Eastern European descent), in Edison, New Jersey, and later Los Angeles. Her father, Angelo Bertolotti (Italian American), is, allegedly, a convicted mobster, found guilty of racketeering.

Other Notable Deaths

In West Hollywood, other tragic deaths have included those of John Belushi and River Phoenix.

In 1982, John Belushi died of a drug overdose at the elegant Chateau Marmont hotel. On the night of his death, he was visited separately by friends Robin Williams (at the height of his own drug exploits) and Robert De Niro, each of whom left the premises, leaving Belushi in the company of assorted others, including Cathy Smith. This is just one of many notable sordid events at the location. A 1930s movie executive reportedly said, "If you must get into trouble, do it at the Chateau Marmont."

Actor River Phoenix died of a drug overdose on Halloween morning in 1993 at the Viper Room, a club that was opened that year and was partly owned by actor Johnny Depp until 2004.

Howard Hughes

West Hollywood, then called Sherman, formerly was an important retreat for Howard Hughes. In 1930, Howard Hughes purchased the building at 7000 Romaine Street, which was then used for an experimental film process company for a short time. Hughes eventually used the location as the communication nerve center for his empire. Employees called this location The Fortress.

The area around Fountain Avenue, Harper Avenue and Havenhurst Drive contains a high concentration of landmark 1920s Spanish Revival and Art Deco apartment buildings by such noted architects as Leland Bryant. This historic district has been home to many celebrities and at one time the Sunset Tower at 8358 Sunset Boulevard was home to Frank Sinatra, Errol Flynn, the Gabor Sisters, John Wayne and Howard Hughes.