LAPD officers shoot, wound suspect

Police say man pulled gun on officers after a two-hour pursuit that ended in El Monte.

A man suspected of assaulting a woman in South Los Angeles was shot by LAPD officers after a twohour pursuit that ended in El Monte.

The suspect, whose name has not been released, was wounded during the second of two shootings that happened in the San Gabriel Valley city. LAPD Officer Matt Ludwig said the man had a gun.

Ludwig said two officers responded about 1 a.m. Friday to a domestic violence call in the 9300 block of Firth Boulevard. The two officers were speaking with the female victim when they noticed the male suspect driving away in a white Toyota minivan.

“They attempted to do a traffic stop, but he did not stop and a pursuit started,” Ludwig said. The chase was at low speeds, he said.

“At some point during the pursuit, he called CHP and notified them that he was armed,” Ludwig said of the suspect.

Once in El Monte, the man stopped the minivan at Cogwell Road and Elliot Avenue and got out. Officers opened fire.

LAPD Lt. John Jenal said it was unclear what exactly happened during that shooting, but he said there was no initial evidence to suggest that the man had been struck. The suspect got back into his vehicle and drove off.

Ludwig said officers used a spike strip to disable and stop the minivan, but the man continued driving with flat tires. The minivan came to a stop about half a mile away from the scene of the first shooting, at Mountain View Road and Valley Boulevard.

The man got out of the vehicle holding a blanket. He dropped it at one point and brandished a gun, according to Jenal and Ludwig. Officers fired again.

The suspect was taken to a hospital, where he remains in critical condition, Ludwig said.

Jenal called the incident “very complex” and said the investigations into both officer-involved shootings — routine after such incidents — were in their preliminary stages. Police said no officers were injured.