Shane Cook was 31 years old when he was found dead on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012, in Bellflower. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma in the 9300 block of Somerset Boulevard. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
He was a white man who lived in Bellflower. The Los Angeles Times reported that "Cook's body was found by a friend, who then called police." He was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:52 p.m. "Preliminary coroner's records show he died from blunt force trauma to the head," the Times reported, adding that "the coroner's office said it is unclear what type of weapon was used in the attack."
Early news coverage gave a different picture. The day after his death, Patch reported under the headline "Local Resident Shot to Death in Bellflower" that investigators had responded to "the reported shooting about 7:55 p.m. Sunday" and found him dead in the 9300 block of Somerset Boulevard. "A witness at the scene said Cook was shot in his apartment," Patch reported. The coroner's findings, as reported by the Times, pointed instead to blunt force injuries to the head. The public record does not explain the difference, and it may simply reflect early confusion at the scene before the coroner examined him. What both accounts agree on is that he died at a home on Somerset Boulevard on a Sunday evening, and that "no arrests were reported."
Beyond those two short reports, almost nothing about Shane has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story. Shane Cook is also a common name, and searches for it turned up many other men who share it, in South Carolina, Missouri, Ohio and elsewhere, none of them the man who died in Bellflower. The fact that it was a friend who found him suggests that people close to him were checking on him, and those people may know more about who he spent time with in his final days.
Bellflower is a city of about 75,000 people in southeast Los Angeles County, between Downey, Lakewood, Paramount and Cerritos. Like several of its neighbors, it contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services rather than running its own department. Somerset Boulevard is one of its main east-west streets, lined with apartment buildings, small houses and strip shopping centers. Much of the city is made up of modest residential blocks where many families have lived for years.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Shane Cook could be found in news archives or public records. More than 13 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived near the 9300 block of Somerset Boulevard in Bellflower in October 2012, who visited Shane that weekend, or who knew of trouble in his life, may hold information that could help investigators. At the time, the Times asked anyone with information to call the sheriff's homicide bureau at 890-5500. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
