LA MESA, Calif. — A fight between two men in a commercial district near Helix High School escalated Friday into a shooting that left one of them dead.
The men got into an argument for unknown reasons in front of a gas station in the 7500 block of University Avenue in La Mesa about 9:30 a.m., according to police.
The dispute soon turned into a scuffle that ended when one of the combatants pulled a handgun and fired several shots at the other, mortally wounding him, Lt. Katy Lynch said.
The shooter then fled to the west with a female companion in a small dark-colored SUV.
Paramedics took the wounded man, a 44-year-old La Mesa resident, to Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, where he was pronounced dead, the lieutenant said. The victim's name was withheld pending family notification.
The shooter -- described as a black man in his early to mid-30s, dressed in jeans and a black shirt -- remained at large in the mid-afternoon. Police believe that he and the victim were acquainted, according to Lynch.
"There's some connection between them, but we haven't figured out what yet," she said.
Police shut down the westbound lanes of University Avenue between Parks Avenue and Culbertson Street to allow for investigation of the fatal shooting. The closure remained in effect in the mid-afternoon.
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