Australian fitness trainer from Sydney Azuma Bennett identified as victim of Los Angeles shooting
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Australian fitness fanatic and private schoolboy, 30, dies in a hail of bullets as gunman opens fire at a legal marijuana store in Los Angeles
- Azuma Bennett was shot to death outside a Los Angeles marijuana dispensary
- Mr Bennett was raised in Sydney but moved to the US two-and-a-half years ago
- Police are still investigating the shooting and have appealed for any information
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A man gunned down in front of a Los Angeles marijuana dispensary was a Sydney-raised fitness trainer.
Azuma Bennett, 30, was shot up to eight times at about 9.45am on Friday while outside a marijuana dispensary in West Slauson Avenue in Windsor Hills, LA.
Police said they found Mr Bennett lying in the doorway of the building with gunshot wounds and declared him dead at the scene.
Azuma Bennett (left) was found dead after suffering up to eight gunshot wounds outside a Los Angeles marijuana dispensary
Mr Bennett grew up in Sydney with his father, a martial arts expert who passed in 2017, and mother.
He attended Waverley College, a private eastern suburbs school, and worked at Mosman’s Fitness First between 2012 and 2018.
One of the gym’s trainers, Brad Spence, said Mr Bennett was inspired to move to the US in 2018 following the death of his father.
‘Azuma moved to Los Angeles after the death of his father and was helping kids in Compton for free. He wanted to give back to the community and make the world a better place,’ he told Mosman Collective.
‘We are in total shock that this has happened and everyone at Fitness First is in disbelief.’
His former Sydney boxing coach, Tony Del Vecchio from Bondi Boxing, said Mr Bennett would ‘walk in and light up a room’.
‘He came to me, one of the boys at the gym brought him in, soon after we opened in 2015 or 2016 and he just became a part of the fabric of the gym,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Bennett (above) was raised in Sydney but moved to the US two-and-a-half years ago
‘He trained young kids, he trained clients, he trained with me.’
‘He was the guy that gave so much and he’d want you to be happy and do whatever to make you happy.’
‘He’s left an indelible mark on this planet.’
Mr Bennet was just three weeks from coming home to visit his family in Sydney but now his loved ones are forced to save to fly over his remains.
A GoFundMe to fly his body to Australia has raised over AUD$34,000.
Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to call the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau or contact Crime Stoppers.