Manager of the Ararat Bank shot dead in Glendale
25.07.2009 15:03

Armen Dilanyan
`Radiolur’
Glendale

On Wednesday July 22, 2009, Ara Terunyan, a 35 year old male resident
of North Hollywood, was shot several times.

The shooting occurred in a parking lot to the rear of 318 W. Colorado
in the City of Glendale. At approximately 11:08 a.m. the Glendale
Police Department received numerous 911 calls of shots being fired.
Officers arrived on scene and discovered a male victim seated in a
black Lexus sport utility vehicle. The victim was struck several times
by gunfire and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The shooter was described as a male African American. After the
shooting the suspect fled the location by running south through the
parking lot and entered the passenger door of a blue American made
sedan. The driver of this vehicle was also described as a male African
American.

The victim had accompanied his wife to an appointment at a medical
office located at the address. While sitting in their vehicle the
suspect appeared and began firing at the victim, striking him several
times. His wife was left unharmed.

"It appears preplanned. There was a getaway driver," said Glendale
Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz. "To us, it looks like he was a targeted victim.
For what reason, we don’t know yet."

Terunyan, who died at the scene, became the first homicide victim in
Glendale this year. There were three homicides in the city in 2008, and
two in 2007.

According to publications in the press, Ara Terunyan was a former
employee of the Central Bank of Armenia and one of the managers of the
Yerevan based Ararat Bank. He is said to have settled in Los Angeles
six months ago.

Hovik Dadasyan, a Terunyan family friend in Armenia, said the victim’s
wife is pregnant, and he had no idea why the bank executive would be
targeted.

Dadasyan and Terunyan were listed as being top executives for Ararat
Bank, which is based in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, according to a
Business Week index.

The pair also worked together at the Central Bank of Armenia, Dadasyan
said.