LOS ANGELES, CA – A Los Angeles Police Officer has been released from the hospital after being injured in a shootout with an armed subject. The incident happened on November 1 when officers were called to a supermarket in Granada Hills after 6 p.m.
@FOXLA at 10pm: Ralph’s shopper Peter Genovese captures this video of homeless man dancing on aisle moments before LAPD says he shoots an officer, non-life-threatening injuries pic.twitter.com/cLsh6TmkkE
— Hailey Winslow (@HaileyBWinslow) November 2, 2020
Shoppers inside the Ralph’s store reported that there was a shirtless man standing on a freezer dancing and waving a gun.
As officers moved in using shields attempting to secure the male, he opened fire on the officer. One officer was injured in the hand by either a gunshot or flying debris. Officers returned fire as the suspect fled on foot outside of the store.
Officers caught up to him at a nearby business on Devonshire and Balboa Boulevards as he was waving a gun at a person. Police took him into custody without further incident.
Prayers for this @LAPDHQ Officer shot last night! https://t.co/WjJ6uVwGYK
— Chief Jim Gilbert (@CHIEFGILBERT1) November 2, 2020
The man, who was not struck by the officers’ gunfire, was taken to a local hospital for medical evaluation. Police are not releasing the name of the suspect.
This incident is the latest in the string of officers being hurt while doing their job. In September, LET reported when a man, Jose Guzman, walked into an LAPD substation and began attacking an officer for no apparent reason.
On September 26, the man attacked the officer and was able to steal his gun during the fight. The man pistol-whipped the officer about the head several times, started to walk out, and then fired on an officer as she walked in. The suspect’s gunshot missed the officer, who immediately began pursuing the suspect on foot.
Newly released surveillance video shows the moment when an LAPD officer was attacked inside the department’s Harbor Station on Sept. 26. https://t.co/Ro7JVn5Aw1
— FOX 13 Tampa Bay (@FOX13News) October 8, 2020
Los Angeles Police Chief Michael Moore reported that the suspect got into a vehicle and left the scene. Officers were nearby and began pursuing the suspect until he stopped in the area of 18th Street and Pacific Avenue. Police took the man into custody but reported that one of the arresting officers suffered a minor injury during the arrest.
Guzman was charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, one count of robbery, and evading and resisting an officer. He received treatment for minor scrapes and abrasions.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted:
“Sending my best wishes for a quick and full recovery to our @LAPDHQ officer injured in an incident at the Harbor Station tonight. The officer is in stable condition and we’re closely monitoring the situation.”
Moore reported that his agency is seeing an increase of people attacking police officers. He said:
“We’ve seen a 156% increase this year to date. That’s 282 felonious assaults [on officers] versus 110, during the same period last year.”
Throughout the country, there are numerous reports of people who are attacking and/or at minimum, fighting with officers. In one such instance in Philadelphia, an officer who was working October protests was allegedly intentionally run over by a black truck. The officer suffered a broken leg during the incident.
Other officers were injured when they had rocks and other objects thrown at them during the protests which started after the Philadelphia police shot and killed Walter Wallace, Jr. Wallace, who was with a knife and went towards officers and ignoring several commands to drop his weapon.
DALLAS, TX – On October 31st in East Dallas, four uniformed police officers were reportedly assisting victims at the scene of a traffic accident when gunfire started going off that is presumed to have been aimed at the officers.
The shooting occurred just two minutes before 7:00 p.m. on the 31st, where two Dallas Police officers and two Mesquite Police officers were assisting victims of a traffic accident at the intersection of John West Road and La Prada Drive.
According to Dallas Police Association president Mike Mata, the shooting appears to have been directed at the police officers:
“They were waiting on a wrecker and directing traffic when all of the sudden bullets are coming their way.”
After the first shot was fired, an additional four to five shots rang off in the officers’ direction. Acting quickly, the officers took cover and called in for backup.
The officers were then able to make their way over to where the gunfire was believed to have originated from in an effort to find the suspect or suspects responsible.
When the officers were running toward the believed direction of the gunfire, they reportedly heard some screaming around the 8300 block of La Prada Drive. Eventually, police had happened upon a 19-year-old suspect that authorities believe may be the gunman.
The suspect was arrested for unlawfully carrying a weapon and also marijuana possession. Police are currently testing the gun retrieved from the suspect to determine if it indeed was the one fired that evening.
Currently, officials have not revealed the names of the officers alleged to have been targeted in the attack, nor the name of the alleged offender.
From what Mata says regarding the incident, this matter is indicative of a broader problem occurring within the country when it pertains to how police officers are both painted and perceived by a dangerous – but vocal – small segment of the population:
“If it comes through attrition that this is the individual that fired those rounds at officers, it absolutely was intentional and unfortunately, it’s a narrative that’s being carried across the country by a very small percentage, but vocal amount of people.”
Mata pointed at the types of examples that have been seen in recent months, with officers being attacked and seemingly targeted for simply being police officers:
“The protests that we’ve had in the past, we’ve had individuals that were throwing bricks. What happened in New Orleans with that officer that was shot in the face doing nothing but sitting in his squad car. This narrative that the police are the public’s enemy has to stop because it is not true.”
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