WOODLAND HILLS, CALIFORNIA — Authorities said Monday that a popular San Fernando Valley doctor who was shot dead outside a Woodland Hills clinic may have been the target of his killer.
As his patients and relatives mourned his death, police continued to search for the gunman who killed 61-year-old Hamid Mirshojae, a doctor at Warner Plaza Medical Center on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Woodland Hills.
Mirshojae, the father of a six-month-old baby, was shot around 6:12 p.m. Friday as he left the clinic and walked to his vehicle, according to Los Angeles police.
“The Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Bureau Homicide Unit is asking the public for assistance in providing information that may lead to the arrest of the suspect(s) involved in the murder of a 61-year-old man,” the LAPD said in a written statement. “On August 23, 2024, at approximately 6:12 p.m., Topanga-area patrol officers responded to a radio call of an 'ambulance shooting' in the 5900 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard. When officers arrived, they found the victim in the parking lot near his vehicle with a gunshot wound.”
Mirshojae, who worked at the Woodland Hills Medical Clinic and Urgent Care at 5995 Topanga Canyon Blvd., was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was found near the driver's side of a white SUV, ABC7 reported. Several shell casings were reportedly found next to the body.
According to police, the shooter fled the scene on foot; a description of the suspect was not initially available.
Mirshojae worked at the hospital and specialized in emergency medicine, the medical center's website says. He also received a doctorate in osteopathic medicine from the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific.
According to police, he was walking to the SUV when an unknown suspect approached him and shot him multiple times. Witnesses heard gunshots and saw a body lying on the ground in the parking lot.
“Everyone in the Woodland Hills area, even in LA, knows him because he was a really good doctor,” Maryem Alaei, a family friend, told KTLA5. “He was always laughing, always joking, always helping people.”
“I was sick after I came back from Brazil, where my son had been living. And he was so kind and loving and understanding,” former patient Cherilyn Bacon told ABC7. “I'm so grateful for the comfort he gave me during that time. I'm just so sad for his loss. He was a wonderful, wonderful doctor.”
Alaei said Mirshojae's wife was visiting family in Turkey with their six-month-old baby but would now fly back to the United States as soon as possible.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the LAPD Topanga station at 818-756-4800. During after-hours or weekends, calls can be forwarded to 877-527-3247. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or go directly to www.lacrimestoppers.org.
City News Service contributed to this report.
