VENICE : Suspects Sought in Slaying of Woman

Police are seeking suspects in a shooting in Venice on Sunday that left a 25-year-old woman dead and her male companion wounded.

Venice residents Nicole Mitchell, 25, and Eddie Cagle, 39, were walking near Sunset and 5th avenues in the Oakwood section of Venice about 1 a.m. when three unidentified men approached the couple and an argument ensued, said Detective Michael DePasquale of the Los Angeles Police Department.

One of the men shot Mitchell and Cagle with a rifle from about 20 feet away, police said.

Mitchell, whom police said had no known gang affiliation, was shot once and died at the scene. Cagle, described by police as a former gang member, was wounded in the leg. He was hospitalized and was in good condition, DePasquale said.

DePasquale said it does not appear that the shooting marks a resumption of the recently halted gang war between Latino and African American gangs in the Oakwood area. The victims and assailants were all African American, he said.