A man suspected of shooting an Inglewood police
officer responding to a domestic dispute who then holed up inside a home with
two hostages for more than eight hours surrendered tonight.
According to KCAL9, police turned off the lights around the home about 9
p.m. and within 15 minutes the man had turned himself in. The two women in
the house with him — a woman described as his girlfriend and her 14-year-old
daughter, were also free.
The shooting was reported around 12:40 p.m. near 108th Street and Fifth
Avenue.
“Our officers received a call of a family disturbance in the area
here,” Inglewood police Lt. Oscar Mejia said. “Upon arrival, the officers
were confronted by an individual who engaged our officers in gunfire.”
Mejia said two officers were injured, but only one was believed to have
actually been shot. The nature of the second officer’s injuries was not
immediately known.
The officers were both taken to Centinela Hospital Medical Center and
were “doing fine,” Mejia said. At about 5 p.m., the officer who had been shot
— apparently hit in the chest but saved by his bulletproof vest — was
transferred by ambulance to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, ABC7 reported.
Mejia said he did not know the details of initial call that brought
officers to the scene, only that it was a “family disturbance.” Witnesses
told reporters at the scene that a teenage girl came out of the house
screaming, then the suspect came out and dragged her back inside.
A Los Angeles County Fire Department inspector said paramedics responded
to the area in response to a shooting, but were not permitted to approach the
scene due to the possibility of an active shooter. He said one shooting victim
was apparently taken to a hospital by police.
The gunman holed up inside the home after the shooting, during which
police did return fire. It was unknown if the suspect was injured.
A neighbor told reporters that a man was firing a semi-automatic weapon
from the home, which is apparently owned by a woman who was inside the house
during the standoff. The witness said one officer was able to limp away after
the shooting broke out, but another appeared to be unconscious and had to be
carried away.
The witness said the shooting was likely the result of a domestic
situation. She said brother of the woman who lives in the home contacted police
and was shouting from a nearby street corner, asking police to get his sister
out of the house.
Several homes in the neighborhood were evacuated, and Mejia urged
residents who do not need to immediately return home to avoid the area.
