Howard Epstein, a 45-year-old white man, was shot and killed Thursday, April 30, 1992, near Slauson and 7th avenues in Hyde Park. Epstein, who had flown from his Northern California home to check on his South Los Angeles metal manufacturing business, was struck in the head by a bullet that apparently came from a pickup truck that had pulled alongside his car. His car careened into a liquor store parking lot, where a crowd quickly gathered. Onlookers broke into applause when someone yelled that the dead driver was white, witnesses said, and Epstein's cellular telephone, camera, briefcase and pistol were stolen. Hostility was so intense after the shooting of Epstein that detectives towed away the Epstein's Thunderbird while his body was still behind the wheel -- an unusual step.