Poll Worker Shot Outside LA Elementary School

WATTS (CNS) - A poll worker in Watts was shot and wounded today during a dispute outside the polling place where he was working, and his assailant was being sought.

The man, in his mid-30s, was wounded about 9:40 a.m. outside 92nd Street Elementary School in the 9200 block of Grape Street and was hospitalized in stable condition, said Los Angeles police Officer Bruce Borihanh.

According to the preliminary investigation, the victim became involved in some sort of argument at the polling place, and he was shot outside the location by a male suspect, who fled, said LAPD spokesman Richard French.

The victim's girlfriend was being questioned by police, French said. The nature of the argument, initially described as a domestic dispute, was unclear.

The polling place remained open, Borihanh said, but the school was placed on lockdown for a short time.

According to the City Clerk's Office, a mobile polling place was put in place at the school to ensure voters could cast their ballots. Voters who do not wish to go to the school were also given the option of casting provisional ballots at three other polling places:

-- Bradley-Milken Youth Center gymnasium, 1773 E. Century Blvd.;
-- 96th Street Elementary School auditorium, 1471 E. 96th St.; and
-- Griffith Joyner Elementary School auditorium, 1963 E. 103rd St.