Detectives now say it’s uncertain whether the two suspects who opened fire near a police cruiser on Sunday night were aiming for the officers inside the vehicle

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Authorities in Los Angeles now say it’s unclear whether a Sunday night shooting was a targeted attack on two police officers responding to a call, or a separate incident entirely.



At around 9pm on Sunday, two LAPD police officers were driving in a black and white police cruiser, responding to a call in south Los Angeles when they saw a muzzle flash, the visible flash of light that follows a gunshot, authorities said on Monday. The two officers believed they were under attack and returned fire.

Deputy Chief Bob Green had initially described the incident as an “ambush” on the two officers who were driving south on Hoover Street on Sunday night. But after detectives reviewed the evidence on Monday, Green said investigators are now uncertain whether the shooters were aiming for the officers, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“[We] can’t say definitively it was an attack on police officers or that they drove into something,” Green told the LA Times. “At this point, it’s too early to say it’s one way or the other.”

The officers were not struck, and Green said it’s also unclear if the police cruiser car was damaged by the gunfire.

The incident came less than two weeks after two New York police officers were gunned down in their patrol car on 20 December, raising concern that more attacks on police may follow.

“We don’t know what precipitated the shooting,” Los Angeles Police Department lieutenant Andy Neiman told the LA Times. He continued, saying “everyone’s keenly aware of what happened in New York,” and there is a “sense of uneasiness.”

At a press conference on the autopsy report of Ezell Ford, a mentally ill black man who was killed by a police officer in south Los Angeles, LAPD police chief Charlie Beck spoke to reporters about the Sunday shooting.

Beck said the two officers saw a muzzle flash and gunfire coming from direction of two men.

“The officers believed they were the objects of an attack and returned fire,” he said.

The LAPD declared a citywide tactical alert, sending every available officer to the area to assist with the search and launched a massive manhunt for the shooters. Nearly 100 officers were sent to the crime scene, and parts of south Los Angeles were sealed off overnight while authorities swept the area for evidence.

Just before 11pm local time, the LAPD advised residents on Facebook: “Please stay indoors in the area of 52nd Street and Hoover Avenue, armed Suspect in the area. Please keep our Officers in your thoughts and prayers!”

Beck said police recovered a rifle, a pistol and several bullet casings. The search also lead to the arrest of 18-year-old Christopher Taylor on suspicion of shooting at an occupied vehicle. The second shooter is still at large, Beck said.

In light of recent events, the apparent attack on police prompted a strong reaction from the city’s mayor and police union on Monday.

In a statement, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti said: “Violence in our streets or against the men and women of the Los Angeles Police Department will not be tolerated. [Sunday night’s] incident reminds us of the risks our officers face every day.”

The president of the LAPD officers’ union, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, also issued a statement on Monday calling the shooting “an attempted murder” by what appeared to be “suspects who simply wanted to kill police officers”.

“This blatant violence should outrage Los Angeles residents and the community at large, as much as it does law enforcement across the nation,” president Tyler Izen said in a statement.

On Tuesday, an annual report on law enforcement found that gun deaths of police officers jumped by 56% in 2014.