This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
A man is dead following an exchange of gunfire that also hospitalized a pair of LAPD officers in Boyle Heights on Friday evening, according to KABC.
The two LAPD officers are members of the department's Hollenbeck Division gang suppression unit. Apparently, they were patrolling around a Boyle Heights neighborhood for a specific suspect somewhere along Lorena Street between Atlantic Street and Whittier Boulevards. They found him, and attempted to conduct a pedestrian stop at around 8:30 p.m.
The man started running away, prompting the officers to begin chasing him on foot, according to KTLA. As LAPD Sgt. Frank Preciado said during a press conference close to the crime scene, the man "produced a gun" during the foot chase.
An exchange of gunfire followed. The officers shot and killed the suspect, and one of the officers received a bullet wound to his right bicep. A responding LAPD officer rushed the wounded cop to L.A. County/USC Hospital in a police car, while the second officer was transported to the same hospital by ambulance a few minutes later and treated for back strain.
"They were doing what we pay them to do. They were confronting a gang member who became very violent and shot at them," said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck to KABC. Beck also noted the officers will be okay.
Both officers were wearing body-cameras during the shooting, according to the Los Angeles Times, though the footage has not yet been reviewed. It will be, however, by LAPD's Force Investigation Division.
