Luke Ford

I find downtown scary. I don’t know how people can live there.

CBS: LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Authorities say an 85-year-old man who was standing outside to get a breath of fresh air died Monday after being severely beaten in downtown Los Angeles.

“I was very upset and my heart goes out to his friends,” said Kirk Gaw, who was shaken by the random and deadly attack.

Gaw was grocery shopping when he heard the victim, identified as Dong Yul Lee, screaming for help.

“He chased the man out of the restaurant and then raced toward the senior citizen – the victim – and knocked him over and started stomping on his head,” said Gaw of the suspect. “He was yelling that, ‘Koreans are raping me.’ ”

A security guard from the Whole Foods along with Gaw chased down the suspected attacker, described as a transient who appeared mentally ill, and held him for police.

“I ran toward the guy and started screaming at him,” he said.

Lee died a week after the beating.

Gaw says what happened sadly does not surprise him.

Since he moved to the area in 2004, he says the homeless population has skyrocketed.