Officer hospitalized after shooting in Whittier

A Whittier police officer was taken to the hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound while responding to a murder suspect.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the shooting happened around 8:40 p.m. Monday in the 7300 block of Pickering Avenue. 

Whittier Police Department officers were conducting surveillance and stopped a vehicle driven by Edgar Gonzalez, 25, the alleged gunman in a Sunday fatal shooting in Santa Fe Springs, 

Officers ordered Gonzales to get out of his vehicle, and at some point he got out and ran with officers in pursuit.  Police caught up to Gonzalez between two apartment complexes, where officers opened fire on him, authorities said. 

He continued running and at some point, tossed away a semiautomatic handgun while on the run. An officer was shot during the incident and taken to the hospital for a lower-body gunshot wound.

The gunman was also shot in the hand and hospitalized. On Tuesday, both the suspect and the officer were reported to be stable and recovering in the hospital.