LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors re-established a $20,000 reward Tuesday for information leading to the person who fatally shot a Huntington Park police officer during a break-in at a clothing store more than 50 years ago.
Officer Robert Keller — who was just 25 at the time and had only been with the Huntington Park Police Department for about a year — was shot on Oct. 5, 1967, while responding to a silent alarm at the Wonder Shop clothing store on the 6500 block of Pacific Boulevard.
According to police, Keller responded to the store shortly after 11 p.m. in response to the silent alarm. At the store, he met with a security guard, and the pair entered the store. As they searched the premises, a would-be burglar who had entered the store through a skylight jumped out and began shooting, police said.
Police said about 12 shots were exchanged between the suspect and Keller, who was shot in the chest. Keller was able to make his way out of the store and across the street, where he collapsed and died.
The suspect ran from the store but left behind a trail of blood drops, indicating he had been struck by gunfire as well, police said.
Despite an “intense manhunt,” the suspect was never found.
Keller, who previously served in the Navy, left behind a wife and daughter.
“The murder of Officer Robert Keller continues to be painful for the Huntington Park community and his family,” Supervisor Janice Hahn, who sponsored the reward motion, said in a statement after the vote. “This many years later, we hold out hope that we can solve this case and provide some sense of closure to Officer Keller’s family. I urge anyone with any information about this murder to share what they know with our sheriff’s detectives.”
The board also offered a $20,000 reward in the case last year.
“The city of Huntington Park thanks the office of Supervisor Hahn and the Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Department for the continued support to unravel this infamous crime,” Huntington Park Mayor Marilyn Sanabria said in a statement. “We are grateful for the proposed motion to bring additional resources to help solving this case.”
Anyone with information was asked to call Lt. Joseph Purcell of the sheriff’s department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5565. Anonymous tips can be made through Crimestoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
