John Atterberry, seen in a photograph with former Vice President Dick Cheney, was shot Friday as he drove in his Mercedes through the intersection of Sunset and Vine. (Facebook/KTLA-TV) |
-
VIDEO: Funeral Held for Music Exec Killed in Hollywood Rampage - Dave Malkoff reports
-
KTLA: Hollywood Rampage Victim John Atterbury Dies - David Begnaud reports
-
KTLA: Music Exec Wounded in Hollywood Shooting Dies - David Begnaud reports
-
-
PHOTO GALLERY: Hollywood Shooting Rampage
- The Los Angeles Coroner's Office confirmed that Tyler Brehm, 26, was the man shot dead by police Friday after he shot at motorists in a busy Hollywood intersection.
-
PHOTO: A man goes on a shooting rampage before being shot by police.
-
- KTLA: Ex-Girlfriend, Neighbors Remember Hollywood Shooter -- David Begnaud reports
- RAW VIDEO: Gunman Fires Randomly at Sunset and Vine
- Juvenile Delinquency
- Shootings
-
See more topics »
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KTLA) -- Friends and family attended a funeral honoring the 40-year old music executive who died in a wild shooting rampage in Hollywood earlier this month.
John Atterberry, 40, was wounded in the jaw and chest as he sat in a Mercedes Benz on Vine Street. He died days later.
The funeral, held on Wednesday at West Angeles Church of God in Christ, remembered Atterberry for his hard work and devotion to his friends and family.
"I've known John since 9th grade," Debbie Farrow told KTLA. "I don't believe it, I still can't believe it. It's not real to me."
Atterberry has worked as a music industry executive including a stint as A&R for Tabu Records and as Vice President of Death Row Records, according to a biography posted on Facebook.
Atterberry also helped create the music publishing company Infusion Music Group where he worked on albums for Christina Aguilera, Michael Jackson and the Spice Girls.
"A lot of people are going to miss John. There are a lot of people who John helped," Atterberry's uncle, Johnnie Adams, told KTLA.
In a Facebook post, Atterberry's older sister Cynthia described her loss:
"Today I lost my JOHN, my baby, my guardian angel, my protector, my little brother at 3:00 p.m.
"I do not understand now nor will I ever is why such a senseless act of violence was inflicted upon such a GOD-fearing, kind, compassionate, loving individual," she wrote.
The shooter, 26-year-old Tyler Brehm, was shot and killed by two plainclothes police officers moments after shooting Atterberry.
Few details about Brehm are available, but his Facebook page revealed he ended a relationship four days before the rampage.
On his page, he listed knowledge, friendship, family, money, success and "things that go fast" among his interests.
Brehm's ex-girlfriend, Alicia Alligood, 24, told KTLA she and Brehm dated for four years before breaking up this month.
Brehm and Alligood went to school together in Pennsylvania, beginning in junior high, and continuing in high school. They began "hanging out" during their college years, she said in a phone interview with KTLA's David Begnaud.
Alligood described Brehm as a "humanitarian," and someone who was "extremely motivated to change the world for the better." He even managed a non-profit organization for a friend, she said, but would not name the organization.
She said Brehm was "really stressed out lately."
He met a woman he thought was a pharmaceutical saleswoman, who had given him some kind of pills, Alligood said. He began taking the pills, which was alarming because he never took "hard" drugs before.
"He was very anti-pharmaceutical," Alligood said.
After Brehm met the woman -- who Alligood would not name -- he was never the same.
Los Angeles Police Department officials say the motive to Brehm's shooting rampage is still unknown.
Brehm began shooting at pedestrians and motorists about 10:30 a.m. Friday on Vine St. between Sunset Boulevard and Delongpre Avenue.
Video taken from nearby buildings showed him walking into the street and pointing a handgun at passing cars. He shot nearly 20 rounds from a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson and reloaded the weapon at least once during the spree, LAPD officials said.
"He was just kind of shooting spontaneously," said William Wiles, who watched the incident from his bedroom window nearby. "He didn't really have any mission or purpose or anyone in particular."
Chris Johns, who lives in the Sunset Vine Tower, caught the entire incident on camera.
"I was on the phone and I heard some popping sounds," Johns said. Johns tried to distract the shooter, calling at him from his fourth-floor apartment.
"This was like a serious mad man," Johns said. "He snapped and he's going to try to kill as many people as possible."
Chris Godley, a photo editor for the Hollywood Reporter, was driving his black pick-up truck when he was hit by gunfire.
Godley was grazed in the leg, but remained relatively calm during the ordeal.
"He was following my truck, he was definitely trying to hit me," Godley told KTLA.
According to reports, an off-duty officer working on a film shoot nearby was among the first responders at the scene. Witnesses say the suspect was shot as many as four times by police.
Brehm was pronounced dead at the scene.
Alligood didn't find out about Brehm's involvement in Friday's shooting until this morning.
"I woke up this morning around 7 [a.m.] and I looked at my phone and I had 14 text messages," she said.
Some of those messages were from Brehm, sent a few minutes before the shooting rampage that left him dead. He also left her a voicemail about 12:30 a.m. Friday telling her he loved her.
"He's a very good person," Alligood said.
John Atterberry, 40, was wounded in the jaw and chest as he sat in a Mercedes Benz on Vine Street. He died days later.
The funeral, held on Wednesday at West Angeles Church of God in Christ, remembered Atterberry for his hard work and devotion to his friends and family.
"I've known John since 9th grade," Debbie Farrow told KTLA. "I don't believe it, I still can't believe it. It's not real to me."
Atterberry has worked as a music industry executive including a stint as A&R for Tabu Records and as Vice President of Death Row Records, according to a biography posted on Facebook.
Atterberry also helped create the music publishing company Infusion Music Group where he worked on albums for Christina Aguilera, Michael Jackson and the Spice Girls.
"A lot of people are going to miss John. There are a lot of people who John helped," Atterberry's uncle, Johnnie Adams, told KTLA.
In a Facebook post, Atterberry's older sister Cynthia described her loss:
"Today I lost my JOHN, my baby, my guardian angel, my protector, my little brother at 3:00 p.m.
"I do not understand now nor will I ever is why such a senseless act of violence was inflicted upon such a GOD-fearing, kind, compassionate, loving individual," she wrote.
The shooter, 26-year-old Tyler Brehm, was shot and killed by two plainclothes police officers moments after shooting Atterberry.
Few details about Brehm are available, but his Facebook page revealed he ended a relationship four days before the rampage.
On his page, he listed knowledge, friendship, family, money, success and "things that go fast" among his interests.
Brehm's ex-girlfriend, Alicia Alligood, 24, told KTLA she and Brehm dated for four years before breaking up this month.
Brehm and Alligood went to school together in Pennsylvania, beginning in junior high, and continuing in high school. They began "hanging out" during their college years, she said in a phone interview with KTLA's David Begnaud.
Alligood described Brehm as a "humanitarian," and someone who was "extremely motivated to change the world for the better." He even managed a non-profit organization for a friend, she said, but would not name the organization.
She said Brehm was "really stressed out lately."
He met a woman he thought was a pharmaceutical saleswoman, who had given him some kind of pills, Alligood said. He began taking the pills, which was alarming because he never took "hard" drugs before.
"He was very anti-pharmaceutical," Alligood said.
After Brehm met the woman -- who Alligood would not name -- he was never the same.
Los Angeles Police Department officials say the motive to Brehm's shooting rampage is still unknown.
Brehm began shooting at pedestrians and motorists about 10:30 a.m. Friday on Vine St. between Sunset Boulevard and Delongpre Avenue.
Video taken from nearby buildings showed him walking into the street and pointing a handgun at passing cars. He shot nearly 20 rounds from a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson and reloaded the weapon at least once during the spree, LAPD officials said.
"He was just kind of shooting spontaneously," said William Wiles, who watched the incident from his bedroom window nearby. "He didn't really have any mission or purpose or anyone in particular."
Chris Johns, who lives in the Sunset Vine Tower, caught the entire incident on camera.
"I was on the phone and I heard some popping sounds," Johns said. Johns tried to distract the shooter, calling at him from his fourth-floor apartment.
"This was like a serious mad man," Johns said. "He snapped and he's going to try to kill as many people as possible."
Chris Godley, a photo editor for the Hollywood Reporter, was driving his black pick-up truck when he was hit by gunfire.
Godley was grazed in the leg, but remained relatively calm during the ordeal.
"He was following my truck, he was definitely trying to hit me," Godley told KTLA.
According to reports, an off-duty officer working on a film shoot nearby was among the first responders at the scene. Witnesses say the suspect was shot as many as four times by police.
Brehm was pronounced dead at the scene.
Alligood didn't find out about Brehm's involvement in Friday's shooting until this morning.
"I woke up this morning around 7 [a.m.] and I looked at my phone and I had 14 text messages," she said.
Some of those messages were from Brehm, sent a few minutes before the shooting rampage that left him dead. He also left her a voicemail about 12:30 a.m. Friday telling her he loved her.
"He's a very good person," Alligood said.
