Months before L.A. doctor was killed at his clinic, three men beat him with baseball bats

Several months before he was fatally shot outside his Woodland Hills medical practice , Dr. Hamid Mirshojae was jumped by three men who beat him with baseball bats, an employee and police told The Times.

After the attack, the employee said, Mirshojae told her he was in fear for his life.

"They came and they beat him with baseball bats. ... They were some strangers that we didn't know," said the employee, who requested anonymity out of concern for her safety.

No arrests have been made in the case, and the investigation is ongoing, said police, who did not reveal precisely when the attack occurred. It is not clear whether the beating was related to Mirshojae's killing last week. Los Angeles police Det. Christine Moselle said detectives are aware of the earlier attack, which remains unsolved.

The revelation of the earlier violence against the doctor, who was mourned by the community as a caring and beloved practitioner, raised new questions about the shocking slaying that has left the Woodland Hills community reeling.

As police continued their investigation Tuesday, they said that Mirshojae was the victim of a targeted killing and that a sole gunman had taken the doctor's life. Video showed the fatal shooting.

The doctor was walking from his clinic toward his Lexus, which was parked in the corner of the lot, around 5:30 p.m. when an assailant came running from the rear entrance of the parking lot and shot him from point-blank range.

Mirshojae likely did not see what occurred because he was shot from behind, according to the employee, who reviewed surveillance video of the doctor's final moments.

The employee had left the office 15 minutes before the killing. By the time she returned, after 7 p.m., the parking lot had been swarmed by police. She said she could see her boss' legs splayed out on the ground.

Moselle told The Times that the shooter likely did not exchange words with Mirshojae and that Mirshojae was "shot almost immediately."

The video is not entirely clear, but it appears the shooter was a man, Moselle said.

Investigators are examining the doctor's history and interactions for clues as to who may have killed him and why, Moselle said. But for now, the motive remains unknown, she said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .