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A female In-N-Out Burger employee was fatally shot near the restaurant's La Mirada location on Friday morning, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies from the Norwalk Station responded before 5 a.m. to a call of a person down in in the 14300 block of Firestone Boulevard, Lt. Steve Jauch of the sheriff's Homicide Bureau said near the restaurant.

When they arrived, they found a Hispanic woman unresponsive in the parking lot, according to Jauch. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Preliminary evidence revealed the unidentified victim sustained a gunshot wound to the upper torso, according to a sheriff's news release. An autopsy would be conducted to determine a cause of death.

The victim was wearing an In-N-Out uniform and appeared to be an employee at the restaurant, Jauch said at the scene. A manager later confirmed that she worked there.

In a statement, In-N-Out identified the victim Josefina Alcocer, a longtime associate who had worked for the restaurant since 1996.

"The entire In-N-Out family grieves today over this senseless tragedy as we send our thoughts and prayers to the Alcocer family," Lynsi Snyder, the owner and president of In-N-Out Burger said in the statement. "Josefina had been a part of our In-N-Out family since 1996 and she was one of our original associates at our La Mirada restaurant. We are devastated and will miss her."

Snyder continued: "So many things going on in the World today. We will remain strong and stand in love for Josefina. God bless and comfort all who are mourning a loved one at this time."

The In-N-Out location was closed for the day, a company official told KTLA.

Homicide detectives have blocked off the area as they searched for key evidence in the case, including any surveillance video that may have captured the incident.

"That's the advantage we have nowadays, we rely on cameras all the time. That's going to be part of our investigation, we just haven't gotten that far yet," Jauch said. "We're going to be looking at that."

Authorities have not made an arrest in the case, nor have they provided a description of the shooter.

Investigators were also asking witnesses and anyone else with information to call the department's Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.

Anonymous tipsters were encouraged to call Crime Stoppers by dialing 800-222-8477, texting the letters TIPLA plus a tip to 274637, or by visiting the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.

KTLA's Jennifer Thang contributed to this story.

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