A man is suspected of using a scooter to murder a woman in North Long Beach • Long Beach Post

Police arrested a man suspected of having beaten to death a 63-year-old woman with a scooter while she was walking near Ramona Park on Monday afternoon, authorities said.

The woman was walking eastbound on Obispo Avenue towards 64th Street when the man ran and began to assault her, said Long Beach Police spokeswoman, Arantxa. Chavarria. The killer then seized a motorized scooter nearby and hit it with, police said.

Police had initially reported that a witness who had called them had also tried to intervene and end the attack, but then they claimed that only the woman and the murderer were involved.

After assaulting the woman with the scooter, the attacker took off towards the west, police said, crossing the quiet, single-family neighborhood of single-family homes around 12:30 pm.

Around 5 pm, police arrested the alleged abuser at a convenience store located near Downey Avenue and Artesia Boulevard, a few blocks from the scene of the attack.

They did not immediately reveal her name, but authorities said the victim was Rosa Elena Hernandez, a resident of Long Beach.

The Long Beach homicide sergeant informs the media of today's scooter homicide. pic.twitter.com/C3oU0ECjDS

– Jeremiah Dobruck (@jeremiahdobruck) May 14, 2019

Neighbors said his body was left in the street by the sidewalk. She had "serious injuries", Long Beach Homicide Sgt. John Magallanes said.

A broken two-piece electric scooter was visible on his body, according to NBC Los Angeles, whose helicopter flew over the scene.

The only scooter had been sitting at the intersection for several days, neighbors said.

Police said that they did not know yet if the attack was random. They also do not know what pushed the killer to use the scooter as a weapon.

"The motivation of the attack is still under investigation," Magallanes said.

Neighbors were surprised to hear about the midday violence.

Lyn Griffith said she heard a loud noise, as if someone was throwing a trash can, but she did not think about it before the sirens sounded near her home, two crime scene houses. .

"I just heard a bang," she says.

A neighbor said that she and a member of her family had checked if they could find anything useful for the police with their security cameras, but remained empty.

Griffith said people often walk around the neighborhood to nearby Ramona Park, but there is usually not much pedestrian traffic around noon.

The alleged aggressor is on bail with a $ 2 million bail, the police said.

Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Rivera contributed to this report.

Editor's note: This story was updated Tuesday morning with the details of the arrest.

Jeremiah Dobruck is the editor of the Long Beach Post. Reach him at [email protected] or @jeremiahdobruck on Twitter.