An owner of a South L.A. auto shop on Sunday interrupted a pair of alleged burglars, fatally shooting one of the men as he was fleeing, police said.

Shortly after midnight, a witness called the owners of a wholesale auto-sales shop on the 5800 block of South Hoover Street to alert them that a pair of men had hopped over the business’s fence, according to Det. Chris Barling, who oversees the homicide unit in LAPD’s South Bureau.

The men had removed the batteries from several vehicles by the time one of the owners arrived armed with a registered handgun, Barling said. One of the alleged burglars bolted and was attempting to climb over a fence when the owner fired a single shot that struck him in the buttocks area, according to Barling.

Immediately after the shooting, the owner called 911 to request paramedics, who took the suspect to a local hospital, Barling said. He was pronounced dead a short time later.