Man Found Fatally Shot in Vehicle : Crime: Incident occurred on normally quiet Encino street. Police arrest one suspect<i> .</i>

A man was fatally shot as he sat in his Jeep, the engine idling, on a quiet Encino street Tuesday afternoon. Police said they had arrested one suspect in the killing.

Neither the name of the suspect nor that of the victim were available late Tuesday. Police said the victim was sitting in his Jeep in the 5700 block of Chicopee Avenue about 1:50 p.m. when two men driving past fired into the Jeep, then fled.

Residents rushed to the Jeep--which had no license plates--and pulled the victim out, but were too late. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

“I heard about six shots fired. I was inside my house,” said Sarit Mantel, who lives in the next block. As she headed to the scene she heard someone cry: “He’s alive! He’s alive!” But when she reached the Jeep she found paramedics pulling a sheet over the man.

Residents said they had never seen the man or vehicle before.

“We don’t know what we have yet,” LAPD Lt. Richard Blankenship said.

“Believe it or not, we hear gunshots around here a lot,” said Judy Allen, who’s lived on the street 30 years.

Added neighbor Juanita Lovelace: “I think this neighborhood is deteriorating. I think we are getting an element here that is dangerous. I’ve lived in this neighborhood for 22 years, and for years and years, nothing like this has ever happened.”

Times correspondent Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this story.