Iraq vet and friend gunned down in LA

LOS ANGELES, May 25 (UPI) -- A shooting outside a Los Angeles nightclub early Tuesday left two men dead, including one who reportedly had recently returned from duty in Iraq.

KNBC-TV in Los Angeles said the victims were caught in a flurry of automatic weapons fire around midnight as they walked to their car near a club in the Los Angeles Police Department's rough 77th Street Division.

Police said the shooting might have been gang related, although neither of the pair affiliated with any of the city's many street gangs.

The victims were identified as Melvin Knowles and Brian Butler, both 25. KNBC said Butler had returned from military duty in Iraq earlier this spring and was scheduled to report for a new assignment in the near future.