WEST HOLLYWOOD—The suspect and victim of a deputy-involved shooting in an apartment complex were identified on April 10.
The victim was identified as John Winkler, 30, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Department. Winkler’s Facebook page was filled with goodbye messages that mourned the loss of the student from the Seattle Film Institute.
“He put others first,” one comment said. “He always did.”
Winkler was a temporary production assistant on the Comedy Central Show, “Tosh.0” Canyon News reached out to Comedy Central, who replied with a statement regarding the loss of theWest Hollywood resident.
“Comedy Central and ‘Tosh.0’ extend their deepest condolences to the family of John Winkler,” the statement said. “We only had the privilege of working with him for a short while and extend heartfelt sympathy to his friends and family during this tragic time.”
The suspect at the center of it was identified as Alexander Tor McDonald, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The 27-year-old was charged with one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of torture on April 10, and McDonald pleaded not guilty to all of them during his arraignment. He is being held on $4.12 million bail and is due back in court on May 8.
The incident began when sheriff’s deputies responded to an assault with a deadly weapon call involving a man with a knife around 9:30 p.m. in the 900 block of Palm Avenue, according to the news release. It was there that deputies were informed that there were two men living in the residence to which they were responding, in addition to being told that the suspect was a thin white male wearing a black shirt. An entry team was assembled with “less than lethal weapons” and the deputies moved into the complex.
As the deputies attempted to contact the people inside, two men came rushing out of the door. The first man was covered in blood and bleeding from the neck, and the second man, Winkler, seemed to be “lunging” at the first man. Fearing that the assault was continuing and that the second man, who matched the suspect description by wearing a black shirt, would soon attack deputies, the team opened fire. Both men were hit, and they fell to the floor.
The entry team heard a violent scuffle inside the apartment, and there they found two men in a struggle with each other. One man, who was later discovered to be McDonald, was choking out and tearing at the face of the other man. Deputies, after seeing a large knife on the floor and the victim about to be rendered unconscious, were able to separate McDonald from the other victim and then arrest him.
Investigators determined that McDonald was a resident of the apartment in question. He managed to hold Winkler and the other man captive in the apartment, and then he proceeded to attack and stab them when Sheriff’s deputies arrived. The release stated that Winkler and one of the victims were visiting, while the third victim was a roommate of McDonald.
All three of the victims were taken to local hospitals. The man from the doorway was treated for stab wounds to the neck and a gunshot wound to the leg. He was described by the release to be in stable condition. The victim from inside of the apartment was treated for stab wounds to the legs, arms and chest. He was released later that night. Winkler was taken to a hospital for a single gunshot wound, but he succumbed to his injuries soon after.
The incident occurred in the same area where 34-year-old Kurtland Ma was stabbed to death by his partner Andre Davids, 36, on March 30.
The investigation will now be handled by multiple agencies, including the Sheriff’s Homicide and Internal Affairs Bureau, the Los Angeles County District Attorney, the County Coronerand the Los Angeles Office of Independent Review, with the Sheriff’s Executive Force Review Committee covering the shooting and the investigation in its entirety at the end.
