Breaking News Emails

Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
By Andrew Blankstein and Tim Stelloh

The son of an Oakland city councilwoman died early Sunday after a failed robbery in Los Angeles, officials and law enforcement sources said.

Victor McElhaney, 21, was shot after walking into a robbery in progress at a liquor store near the University of Southern California, where he was a student, NBC Bay Area reported.

Law enforcement sources told NBC News that he was struck in the upper torso.

McElhaney was the son of councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney and a student at USC’s jazz studies program.

The school’s president, Wanda Austin, said McElhaney transferred to USC from California State University East Bay in the fall of 2017.

He was pursuing a degree in music and enjoyed mentoring young musicians, Austin said in a statement.

“He believed in the power of music to touch lives, to heal, and to bring hope,” she said.