Woman Is Slain Picking Up Son at Job : Crime: Gunman opens fire after she surprises robbers at computer store. One suspect is arrested.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY —  A woman who stumbled upon an armed robbery at a computer store as she arrived to pick up her son was killed by a gunman who had just bound and gagged several employees, police said Saturday.

The woman had gone to the store late Friday because she thought it was too dangerous to allow her son to ride home alone on his bicycle at the end of his work shift.

Moments after the shooting, one suspect--a 19-year-old Los Angeles man--was arrested by a passing Fountain Valley police officer, but the other suspects escaped, Police Lt. Bob Mosley said.

The incident was similar to a robbery in July in Culver City, and Los Angeles gang detectives are assisting in the investigation.

Kathy Lee, 47, of Garden Grove, apparently surprised the gunman when she drove up to the Comp USA store, off the San Diego Freeway, about 10:30 p.m., not long after closing.

Mosley said the gunman was apparently opening the side entrance of the store to let in two accomplices who had been waiting in the parking lot.

Lee had gone to the store to pick up her 18-year-old son, Peter Jr., an employee, and parked her 1986 Volvo in the same lot. When the gunman saw her walking toward the building, he shot her once in the head.

“The gunman saw Mrs. Lee and just shot her,” Mosley said. “It was terrible.”

Her son was bound and gagged inside of the store and did not see the shooting.

Police officer Ray Rakitis, who was on routine patrol in the area with a canine unit, heard the shot and radioed for backup units. He then rushed to the parking lot, where he found Nokkuwa (Pretty Boy) Ervin, 19, of Los Angeles, about to step into a silver-colored BMW.

When the driver of the car saw the officer, he sped away, leaving Ervin behind. Rakitis arrested the suspect; police confiscated a .38-caliber handgun, believed to be the weapon used in the shooting.

Kathy Lee, who worked as a Hughes Aircraft executive secretary in El Segundo, was taken to nearby Fountain Valley Regional Hospital, where she died.

According to a store employee, the robbery attempt began when a suspect hid in a box inside the store as it was closing at 10 p.m. Within a few minutes, the suspect popped out and surprised employees.

The suspect apparently held a gun to the heads of several employees, including Lee’s son. The gunman then handcuffed and gagged about seven workers.

Police have not been able to determine whether anything was taken.

Though investigators declined to say if the robbery appeared to be gang-related, Fountain Valley investigators confirmed that a detective with a Los Angeles Police Department gang unit was helping to identify the two accomplices.

On July 23, two gunmen staged a similar robbery at the computer chain’s Culver City store. In that incident, two robbers calmly entered the store at closing time, brandishing handguns, said Culver City Police Sgt. Manuel Ariza. The robbers then bound two employees, locked them in a storage room and took more than 200 computer items worth about $400,000. No arrests have been made in that case.

On Saturday, Kathy Lee’s husband, Peter, said she routinely picked up their son at the store. Peter Lee Jr. usually traveled to the store by bicycle during the day and relied on his parents for a ride home at night.

“We thought it was dangerous for him to travel by bike at night,” Lee said.

Lee said he knew something was wrong when he returned to his Garden Grove home late Friday to find that his wife and son were absent.

When his wife and son did not return shortly after midnight, Lee decided to go to the store. A police officer broke the news to him there.

Lee described his wife as a “vibrant, fun woman.” He said his son was holding up well.

“There’s only so much crying you can do,” Lee said. “You run out of tears. I can’t believe she’s gone. I miss her already so much.”

Times staff writers Lily Dizon and Bob Elston contributed to this story along with correspondent Tom McQueeney.