Man Killed In Barrage Of Gunfire During Shootout With LAPD
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A man was killed in a Watts neighborhood Tuesday night during a shootout with LAPD officers that was caught on cell phone video.
Police responded to reports of a man with a gun in the area of 13th Street and Wilmington Avenue around 11 p.m. When they arrived they saw a man in between cars, and at some point, he opened fire at the officers, hitting an LAPD squad car.
Gam Arreola, who lives a few doors down from the man who was killed, captured video of the shootout.
"It was so scary," he said. "It was maybe 15 [gunshots], one then another."
The video showed officers running for cover, and a barrage of gunfire could be heard in the background.
Police say the officers fired back and called for backup, prompting a heavy backup response. Then the suspect moved to the back of the car, prompting more gunfire from officers, killing the suspect. A handgun was recovered near the man, who was not identified.
The suspect, an adult male Hispanic, was struck by gunfire and pronounced deceased at scene, and the handgun he was armed with will be recovered by detectives. Fortunately, no officers were injured, but this is now the 3rd time in 10 days LAPD Officers have been shot at.
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) May 1, 2019
A stretch of Wilmington Avenue remains closed for the shooting investigation, which continued into Wednesday afternoon.
"Anyone that would shoot at the police, we worry about what the state of mind is of that individual, but really we just don't know at this point," LAPD spokeswoman Detective Meghan Aguilar said.
No officers were injured in the gun battle.
Police say this is the third time in 10 days that officers have been fired upon, but that officer-involved shootings are way down from last year.