Suspect arrested in killing of California police officer
Standoff brought dozens of officers to scene of shooting.
A man suspected of killing a Pomona police officer and wounding another was arrested Saturday afternoon after an hours-long standoff at the apartment complex where the shooting occurred.
The dead officer was identified as Gregory Casillas, 25, of Upland, according to Lt. Dave Smith of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
Officials said the incident began Friday night as a police pursuit that ended near the apartment complex when the suspect’s car crashed. The man ran from his vehicle and was followed by officers on foot.
He went into the apartment complex and barricaded himself inside one of the units. When officers arrived, authorities said, he fired through a door, striking the two officers.
On Saturday morning, more than a dozen Pomona police officers, L.A. County sheriff ’s deputies and county fire vehicles blocked the street in front of the apartment building where the suspect was barricaded. A handful of SWAT officers were gathered outside the entrance to the beige apartment building. Every so often, their muffled megaphone calls to the man to come out echoed through the street.
Neighbors, some wrapped in blankets or wearing hooded jackets, watched the scene unfold from behind police tape. A few stood on top of their cars in the rain for a better view when a flash-bang device detonated around 10 a.m. An officer then again ordered the man to exit through the front door.
“Come outside with your hands up,” the officer said. “Come on out.”
The incident began about 9:10 p.m. Friday when dispatchers relayed reports of an officer down. A law enforcement source said about 75 officers from several agencies converged on the scene but were unable to move the wounded officers to safety at first because of gunfire.
A woman and her daughter who live nearby said they ran out of their apartment after hearing the crash Friday night. A beige truck crashed into a parked red truck in front of an apartment complex, said the pair, who gave only their first names.
Marlene, 12, said she saw the suspect exit the beige truck with a gun tucked under his arm. He then ran into the nearby apartment. Marlene recorded a portion of the shooting.
The video shows Marlene and her mother, Jessica, 29, running for safety as the gunfire continues.
“He’s inside,” a woman says in the video. “Let’s go!”
Marlene said she saw police bring a wounded officer outside and rip off his vest. In the cellphone video, a group of officers surrounds another officer on the ground as one performs chest compressions.
Marlene and other neighbors said they spotted a woman they said was the suspect’s mother crying and vomiting outside the apartment building before she got into a police SUV.
“I was scared,” Marlene said.
Ninfa Martinez said she saw residents running out of the building where the shooting occurred.
“Then I heard some shots and went back running,” Martinez, 24, said. “It was crazy.”
The shooting sparked an outpouring of support from local law enforcement.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Pomona police,” the Sheriff ’s Department said in a statement.
“Another hero gone too soon. These tragedies are occurring too often, and the pains of sacrifice will never be forgotten,” added LAPD Chief Charlie Beck.
The dead officer’s body was escorted by a police procession Saturday morning as it was transferred from Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center to the coroner’s office.