The three males made off with an undetermined amount of cash during the violent robbery Wednesday at about 9:25 p.m., said Officer Gary Shanahan of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Station.
He said the trio then fled into a gold sport utility vehicle.
Two men at the business were taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where one was in critical condition with several shots to the head, arm and legs, police said. The other man was in stable condition with multiple gunshot wounds in the back and legs.
The dispensary, at 8244 White Oak Ave., appeared to be operating illegally. There was no business sign at the location and nobody answered doors on Thursday.
Employees from neighboring businesses said the dispensary had been operating there for only a few months - apparently set up after the city's new law regulating dispensaries went into effect this summer.
No business at that address was among those listed at the City Clerk's Office as giving "notice of intent to register" as a medical marijuana dispensary.
"These kinds of bandit dispensaries don't comply with any of the requirements set out by the city, and they usually have terrible security, which is probably why this happened," said Marc Kent, a Woodland Hills medical marijuana consultant who helps businesses become legitimate under the city ordinance.
City officials attempting to enforce a crackdown against so-called "rogue" dispensaries acknowledge that an unknown number of clinics that have been told to close remain open.
"This was not the first violent crime associated with marijuana distribution sites in Los Angeles," Councilman Greig Smith said in a statement. The dispensary was located in Smith's council district.
"Drugs, whether legalized or not, attract a seedy crowd and the amount of cash and allure of drugs associated with these locations historically breed crime."
Last summer, a robbery at a dispensary in Hollywood resulted in the shooting death of one employee.
Last Friday a Los Angeles County Superior Court issued a ruling invalidating large portions of a medical marijuana ordinance adopted by the City Council last January.
The Los Angeles City Council heard a motion Tuesday requesting the City Attorney to prepare and present to the council an "interim control ordinance" aimed at regulating medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
Anyone with information about the robbery was urged to call the West Valley Station at 818-374-7611.
Source: Contra Cost Times
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