LOS ANGELES — Three Los Angeles Police Department officers were shot Wednesday night and a suspect was dead following a confrontation in the city’s Lincoln Heights neighborhood, police officials said.
The incident occurred around 6 p.m. on North Broadway at Mission Road. All three officers were in stable condition as of Wednesday night and expected to survive.
Officers with the Hollenbeck station were called to the 3800 block of Broadway on Wednesday afternoon to search for a parolee at large, LAPD Assistant Chief Al Labrada said Tuesday night at a news conference held outside of the LAC + USC Medical Center.
Officers found the suspect, who refused to comply with commands, and a K-9 unit was requested from the Metropolitan Division, Labrada said.
Officers used gas on the suspect, who still did not comply with officers' commands.
“At one point during the search, the suspect exited and fired at the officers, wounding three officers who are now listed in stable condition here just behind me,” Labrada said.
After they were hit, other officers pulled them from the line of fire, law enforcement sources said.
Two of the officers were rushed from the scene in police cars because of their condition, and a third was taken by ambulance to a hospital.
At some point during the incident, an unknown number of officers fired at the suspect, Labrada said.
The assistant chief said all three of the officers were able to speak and that their families were at the hospital.
“I deeply appreciate their service, and let them know that their city stands with them,” Mayor Karen Bass said at the news conference. “And I very much look forward to their recovery. My heart goes out to the officers’ families who tonight got the phone call, or the knock on the door that they dread every day, that their loved ones go on duty.”
The suspect has a lengthy criminal record and in January was charged with battery on a police officer and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person in connection with an incident late last year, according to court records and law enforcement sources.
In the aftermath of the shooting, officers, including those in full tactical gear, swarmed the Lincoln Heights site, where blockades had been erected. A helicopter was broadcasting to residents to remain inside and lock their doors. A special weapons and tactics team with armored vehicles arrived at the scene shortly before 8 p.m.
LAPD Chief Michael Moore said on Twitter that he was monitoring the night’s events.
Sets of drones and helicopters swirled around an empty Lincoln Park Recreation Center as officers shut down parts of Valley Boulevard near the active crime scene.
A handful of joggers still ran and worked out in sweats and sweaters near a children’s playground that was closed for remodeling.
One runner said she was turned around by police and told to head to the easternmost end of the park.
Lincoln Heights resident Juan Valdivia, 37, cut short his walk around the park with his 7-year-old beagle, Lucy.
“All the noise from the choppers was bothering her, so we’re going to head back home,” Valdivia said. “There’s a lot of action tonight. A lot of noise.”
The LAPD issued a tactical alert due to the shooting, allowing the department to keep officers on shifts.
