California mother gunned down on camera in front of toddler daughter

PACOIMA, Calif. — California authorities are searching for the former boyfriend of a woman shot and killed on camera Thursday morning just steps away from her 3-year-old daughter.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers responded to a Pacoima home Thursday morning and found Karen Ruiz suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, KABC reported.

Ruiz, 35, was pronounced dead at the scene by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics, and police identified her former boyfriend Herbert Nixon Flores, 46, as the shooter, KNBC reported.

Police described Flores, who is the father of the former couple’s 3-year-old daughter, as armed and dangerous.

In a graphic YouTube video of surveillance from the home released by the LAPD, Ruiz is seen running from a car in a driveway and away from a man identified by police as Flores. Flores then chases Ruiz with a gun, fires multiple rounds and screams are heard. A child can then be heard crying, and Flores can be seen running away before fleeing in a sedan.

Warning: The video is extremely graphic. Viewer discretion is advised. It can be found on LAPD’s YouTube account here.

LAPD detective Sharon Kim told KNBC that the former couple’s 3-year-old daughter was in a nearby car during the shooting because Ruiz was dropping the girl off at the babysitter’s home when the attack occurred.

Kim also confirmed to the TV station that the couple recently separated and Ruiz had a restraining order against Flores.

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