Officer Martin L. Ganz

Martin L. Ganz

Officer Martin Ganz was shot and killed while making a traffic stop in the parking lot of the Manhattan Village Mall on Sepulveda Boulevard and Marine Avenue at 11:15 pm.

As he was outside of the patrol car, the driver of the other car exited and started firing at him. Officer Ganz tried to take cover behind his vehicle but was shot numerous times. Officer Ganz's 12-year-old nephew was on a ride along with him and the suspect attempted to shoot at him, but his gun misfired and the boy was not harmed.

The suspect was arrested approximately eight months later in connection with another murder in Oregon. The suspect was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the Oregon murder. In December 1998, the suspect was sentenced to death for the murder of Officer Ganz.

Officer Ganz was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and had served with the Manhattan Beach Police Department for five years. He was survived by his fiancee, mother, and five sisters.

On the 12th anniversary of Officer Ganz's murder, a section of the I-405 between Hawthorne Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue was renamed the Martin L. Ganz Memorial Highway.