DRUGS SUSPECTED IN MAN'S KILLING

CRIME: the man was gunned down after he and another were cornered on a
dead-end street,police say.

LOS ANGELES - A narcotics connection was being investigated Friday in the
killing of a retired California airline pilot and the wounding of a Miami
lawyer. They were gunned down on a dead-end street after arriving on a
chartered plane from Florida.

One of the gunmen took the victims' rental car, which was later found
abandoned.

Robbery-homicide detectives said they believe the shooting was
narcotics-related but would not say what type of drugs they thought were
involved.

"It was a deal that went sour apparently," said Lt. Jim Grayson. "We're not
sure if they (the victims) knew of them. They were aware of them."

The dead man was identified as Daniel Walcott, 73, a retired pilot from
Menlo Park. The other man, Richard Howard Reynolds, 73, was in critical
condition Friday at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, said officer Don
Cox.

The shooting occurred about 3:30 p.m. Thursday in Montecito Heights,
northeast of downtown. The men were in a white rental car and apparently
exited a freeway to evade a car that was following them, said officer Jason
Lee.

The victims turned down dead-end Homer Street and tried to turn around.

The pursuing vehicle rammed the rental car, and two gunmen approached. One
gunman pulled Walcott, the driver, out of the car and shot him several
times. He died at the scene, Cox said. Reynolds ran but was shot several
times.

Authorities said Walcott and Reynolds flew to California in a private,
twin-engine Cessna that landed at Fox Field in the Mojave Desert north of
Los Angeles.

The rental car was found Friday in the city of Bell, said Bell police Sgt.
Andy Probst.