Californian doctor Hamid Mirshojae was killed in an ambush outside his office in Woodland Hills.

A well-known Californian doctor was shot dead in an ambush outside his clinic in Los Angeles. The motive for the deadly attack remains a mystery.

Hamid Mirshojae was shot shortly after 5:30 p.m. Friday — an hour after he closed his office — as he was being escorted to his car in the parking lot of Woodland Hills Medical Clinic and Urgent Care, KTLA reported.

The Los Angeles Police Department arrived 42 minutes later and found the 61-year-old doctor with a gunshot wound next to his white SUV.

Mirshojae, who worked as a general and emergency doctor, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

According to KCAL, several shell casings were found nearby.

The suspect, whose identity is still unknown, fled the scene on foot.

Police believe only one gunman was involved in the fatal shooting, but have not released a description or motive, the media outlet said.

According to his professional biography, Mirshojae’s patients included “celebrities, film stars, athletes and many people from all walks of life”.

He graduated from the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, was board certified in addiction medicine, and had over ten years of experience in addiction recovery.

“He was full of love. He cared about you very much,” former patient Khedhar Quintero told KTLA. “He doesn't care that you're just another number in his lobby, he cares about your future too.”

“He helped a lot of people through rehab,” Quintero added. “Who knows what they might have been going through. He might have changed something in their life. He might have done something differently that they didn't like, and unfortunately someone wanted to get him out of this world.”

“He's been my doctor for 15 years and he's helped me feel better,” Gloria Sera told the outlet. “He came from Iran and I don't know if he told me the truth, but the last time I came, he said he had just gotten married.”

Mirshojae's wife, whom he married last year, and their six-month-old daughter were visiting family in Turkey at the time of the shooting.

They are returning to the United States after learning of Mirshojae's death, KCAL reported.

Mirshojae has three adult children from a previous marriage.

His ex-wife, Ahang Zarin Kelk, paid tribute to Mirshojae in a Facebook post and shared details of his memorial service.

“Hamid, the children and I are in shock, we miss you so much,” she said. “On August 23 at 5:30 p.m. they took Hamid away from us right in front of his practice.”

“He has always helped people and cared for tens of thousands of patients for decades. We fought HARD to make life possible, starting from scratch in the apartment, and the world is still so cold,” she said.

“He left this world with four beautiful children,” Kelk added. “We want to be strong in the face of evil to remember Hamid as a father, husband, doctor and friend.”

Months before Mirshojae's death, his father was attacked by three men armed with baseball bats and feared for his life.

“They came and beat him with baseball bats,” a Los Angeles Times employee told the newspaper. “They were strangers we didn't know.”

Police did not give a motive for the fight.

Investigators are aware of the earlier beating, but are not yet sure whether it is related to the fatal shooting, the source said.