Suspect ‘contained’ in apartment complex amid standoff left cop dead
Los Angeles CA March 10 2018 A nearly 12-hour standoff with a suspect believed to have fatally shot a California police officer and injuring another late Friday night continues as authorities say he remains “contained” inside an apartment complex.
Captain Christopher Bergner of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office told reporters Saturday morning that they believe the barricaded individual is armed and alive. He said the person has not been identified and police are planning to interview witnesses to retrieve more information.
The incident unraveled after police officers responded to a report of someone barricaded inside a home in Pomona, Calif., about 30 miles east of Los Angeles.
Dispatchers received a call of an “officer down,” at around 9:10 p.m. local time, Bergner said.
Pomona Police Chief Mike Olivieri said in a tweet early Saturday morning that one officer had died and the other was in stable condition.
“It is with a heavy heart that I must report that one officer did not survive,” he said in the tweet.
The Los Angeles Times reported the suspect was contained in the apartment and around 7 a.m., local time, a “loud bang was heard.” An officer was heard instructing the suspect to come outside the apartment with their hands up.
Video footage from local media showed exchanges of gunfire while a wounded officer was on the pavement, receiving medical attention.
The two officers – both with the Pomona Police Department – were eventually taken to a nearby hospital.
The slain police officer has not been identified.
At least 20 police officers have died in the line of duty since the start of 2018.
