Los Angeles ( CNN ) -- Los Angeles police have linked three people arrested Wednesday to nine shotgun robberies and two murders , including Sunday 's fatal shooting of an MTV producer , a police spokeswoman said Thursday . Investigators connected a string of robberies and killings because of similar descriptions for the robber and the use of shotguns , which a police official called `` a rare weapon to use in a street crime . '' The crimes happened in just blocks from Olympic Boulevard , in and around the Wilshire section of Los Angeles over the past two weeks , police said . The suspects are Jabaar Vincent Thomas , 26 , Destiny Young , 29 , and Richard Edward Anderson , 33 , Los Angeles Police Sgt . Mitzie Grasso said Thursday . The three were taken into custody Wednesday after police spotted a car fitting the description of the getaway vehicle in a liquor store robbery involving a shotgun Tuesday night , Blake said . The robber was unsuccessful because of thick bullet-proof glass protecting the clerk , he said . MTV music coordinator Gabe Ben-Meir was killed by a shotgun blast to his head early Sunday , police said . A neighbor found his body on a sidewalk near his apartment hours later . Initially , detectives did not know whether robbery was involved in Ben-Meir 's killing , but a pattern of shotgun crimes in the same section of the city since April 29 pointed toward a possible connection . Another man was killed by a shotgun blast on April 30 after he refused to give a robber his money , Los Angeles Police Capt . Matt Blake said . A third person who resisted a robber barely escaped harm when a shotgun blast missed him in another early morning hold-up , Blake said . All the street robberies were `` in the wee hours '' of the morning , Blake said . Three hold-ups were at small businesses , including two doughnut shops and a liquor store , he said . A security camera took a photograph of a shotgun robber at a doughnut shop last week . The photo was handed out to reporters at a police news conference Wednesday . Ben-Meir , 30 , worked as music coordinator and production coordinator on several MTV shows , including `` Punk 'd '' and `` Nitro Circus , '' an MTV spokesman said . `` We are shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Gabe Ben-Meir , who was a valued member of the MTV family and a beloved and dedicated colleague and friend , '' MTV Senior Vice President Nathaniel Brown said . `` Our hearts go out to his family . ''
Three suspects were arrested Wednesday in the killing of an MTV producer . The three men are accused of shooting and stabbing a man to death at his home on April 10 after he refused to pay them for using his car as cover during filming. L.A. police identified 9 shotgun robberies and 2 murders in the past two weeks . The crimes happened around the Wilshire section of Los Angeles .