NORWALK >> The man police believe killed his cousin and a Whittier police officer later the same day described the deadly shootout with police in an interview with sheriff’s detectives, according to audio of the interview played in the first of a two-day court hearing Thursday.

Michael Christopher Mejia, 26, of Los Angeles, laid out the timeline of the Feb. 20 shootout in the Friendly Hills area of Whittier to two investigators at a downtown Los Angeles jail.

The shooting left Officer Keith Boyer dead and Officer Patrick Hazel wounded. Mejia was also wounded in the violent encounter.

“I know I smoked this one,” Mejia said, apparently referring to Boyer. “Yet the second one. Could not get him.”

Mejia described opening the door of his car, which he had just crashed into another vehicle at the intersection of Colima and Mar Vista Street, to shield himself from the approaching Boyer. But Mejia said he didn’t see Hazel standing behind him.

“I opened the door … to cover myself, but the one in the back, I wasn’t focused on him,” Mejia said. “I didn’t see the one in the back that shot me in the back.”

Mejia was charged in March with the murder of Boyer and the wounding of Hazel. He was also charged with the murder of his cousin, Roy Torres, 47, of East Los Angeles.

Police previously said Mejia shot the two officers as he stepped out of the stolen car he had just slammed into a stopped vehicle.

Police also believe Mejia killed Torres at a home in East L.A. earlier that day following a dispute. Investigators said Mejia stole Torres’ car after that early morning shooting.

Mejia told the two detectives that he was high on marijuana and other drugs at the time of the shooting. He also told the detectives he blacked out after being shot, and only remembered the incident later after watching news reports about it on television.

Investigators have not released any information indicating whether Mejia had drugs in his system the day of the shooting.

Mejia read a transcript of the interview with his lawyer as it played during the hearing. As the video played, Mejia looked back over his shoulder at five of his supporters who were at the hearing.

A trio of Whittier officers also attended the hearing, along with Boyer’s mother and stepfather.

Witnesses who testified Thursday included the girlfriend of Torres and her cousin, who prosecutors said were in the garage of the home when Torres was fatally shot.

Both cousins, identified as Jane Doe 1 and 2, testified that they both heard and saw the shooting.

“All I remember is that a bullet went through his head,” said Torres’ girlfriend, who was confused, combative and emotional at times on the stand. “I remember it going into his forehead like a cartoon.”

The women, who hung out together the night before the shooting, admitted to being methamphetamine addicts. One of the women broke down as the prosecution showed her a photo of Torres lying on the garage floor after being shot.

Both said they saw a gun in Mejia’s waistband after he took off his shirt, and that he counted down from 10 before shooting Torres.

Esther Hui and Ching Ta Chin, whose cars were damaged during the collision on Colima, also testified Thursday that Mejia asked how they were after the accident.

Chin pushed Mejia’s disabled silver car off of Colima and on to Mar Vista. They also testified to hearing two different rounds of gunshots after officers approached the car Mejia was driving.

Mejia was on probation under AB 109 at the time of the shooting. The state prison reform law mandated “realignment,” shifting nonviolent offenders from state prisons to county jails, or placing them on probation under county supervision rather than parole under state supervision.

In April 2016, Mejia finished his sentence for a 2014 grand theft auto conviction and was released to the custody of county probation officers. In the seven months prior to the shooting, Mejia was arrested five times for violating his probation, according to county records.

No charges were filed for any of those violations but he was held in county jail for up to 10 days for each violation.

Many law enforcement officials, including Whittier Police Chief Jeff Piper, have criticized the law for putting violent felons back on the street and endangering the lives of police officers and sheriff’s deputies.

Though he appeared to benefit from the law, Mejia had his criticisms of AB 109, too. In the interview, Mejia told the investigators he believed AB 109 was releasing “rapists and child molesters.”

Researchers of the law say there has been no increase in violent crime as a result of its passage.

Related story: Will Whittier officer’s death be a turning point for AB 109?

In the interview, Mejia told the investigators he had “nothing against” the two officers he is accused of shooting. But Mejia, a known gang member according to police, also indicated in the interview his response was out of “frustration” over the treatment of gang members by police.

When asked what he would say to Whittier police who were affected by the shooting of their fellow officer, Mejia said he would tell them “to train their guys better.”

He also said he knew his grandmother, who had tried to get him into rehab, was disappointed in him.

Mejia was charged in March with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, one count of carjacking and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The preliminary hearing will continue Friday.

Staff writers Jason Henry and Stephanie Baer contributed to this story.