Mayor in California fatally shot at home; wife in custody

LOS ANGELES -- The mayor of Bell Gardens, Calif., was fatally shot Tuesday afternoon in a dispute with his wife, who was in custody, KTLA-TV reported.

Bell Gardens is a city of 43,000 about 10 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

According to KTLA.com, authorities on the scene of the shooting told reporters that 45-year-old Mayor Daniel Crespo died after being shot multiple times in the torso by his wife, who was identified as Levette Crespo, 43.

Their 19-year-old son tried to intervene in an argument between the couple in their bedroom at about 2:30 p.m., Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Steve Jauch said.

As father and son struggled, Levette Crespo produced a firearm and shot her husband, according to Jauch.

She was detained by police, the lieutenant said.

Daniel Crespo was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Crespo was first elected to the City Council in 2001 and worked as a Los Angeles County probation officer for more than a decade, a job he continued to hold after becoming mayor last year, according to the city.