LOS ANGELES, CA – Several weeks ago, we brought you the story of the of a Los Angeles Police officer that was attacked in the lobby of the Harbor Division station (see below for that story and the details surrounding the incident).
On Wednesday, the LAPD released body-worn camera footage of the attack that left Officer Anthony Freeman bleeding from the head and in need of medical attention.
On the night of September 26th, 29-year-old Jose Cerpa Guzman entered the station, approached Officer Freeman in the lobby and then attacked him, according to the footage released by the LAPD.
YouTube screenshot
Knocking the officer to the ground, Guzman can be seen struggling with him for his service weapon. Gaining control of the weapon, Guzman then began to pistol-whip Officer Freeman around his head and face, causing lacerations.
Guzman then stood up and began retreating for the door while pointing the gun at the officer.
As he is leaving the facility, another officer comes into view and runs to assist Officer Freeman. He informs her that the suspect has his gun. As she moves towards the door in pursuit of Guzman, he opens fire. The female officer dives for cover before returning fire. No one was struck in the exchange.
Guzman then fled in his vehicle. A radio call went out:
“Officer needs help. Shots fired.”
That call can be heard at the 2:38 mark of the video below.
Starting at the 3:54 mark, the video shows Guzman pulling into the station entrance in what appears to be a white Chevrolet Avalanche. He struggles with the tailgate of his truck for several moments.
Upon entering the building, he is met by Freeman. The two can be seen in a tense conversation with Guzman advance then backing off numerous times before appearing to leave the station only to return and begin the assault on the officer.
After the two responding officers go outside, we see several moments of the body-worn camera footage from the injured officer. It is apparent that he is continuing to bleed profusely.
He finally reaches for his radio to try to call for a rescue ambulance (RA). Another officer comes in the lobby and his tells them to call an RA as he “is starting to black out.”
In one of the most poignant parts of the video, at least to this writer, is shown when two responding officers hear the radio traffic calling for the rescue ambulance. Upon hearing “officer down,” one of the officers responded with a one simple word.
“FUCK!”
In that single word, we hear the anger, hurt, frustration and fear that our law enforcement community carries with them every single day.
They are tired of being targeted. They are tired of losing members of the thin blue line. And those of who love and support law enforcement feel those very emotions in hearing his response.
The rest of the video then shows the pursuit and apprehension of Guzman from officers points of view. He can be heard crying throughout the arrest.
Law Enforcement Today is happy to report that the officer injured in the original altercation is going to be fine, as he suffered non-life threatening injuries. He was treated and release form the hospital.
Guzman was subsequently charged with:
2 counts of Attempted Murder of a Peace Officer
2 counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon on a Peace Officer
1 count of Robbery
1 count of Fleeing a Pursuing Officer
1 count of Resisting an Executive Officer
Guzman is now being held on a $2.3 million bond is still awaiting his court date.
LOS ANGELES, CA – An officer is reportedly recovering from a head injury that occurred on the evening of September 26th at the LAPD station located on 2175 John S. Gibson Blvd.
While there were concerns initially that an officer was shot, it turns out that was not the case, but the officers was reportedly shot at and not struck.
When the LAPD first announced the incident, the matter was referred to as an officer-involved shooting, which is likely what caused the concerns over an officer being potentially shot.
We can confirm that there has been an Officer-Involved Shooting at LAPD’s Harbor Station. A Public Information Officer is responding, and we will provide more details as they become available.
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) September 27, 2020
However, the details that have surfaced shed more light on what took place. Shortly before 10:00 p.m. on September 26th, a male subject entered the LAPD station and the desk officer was providing assistance to the subject.
At some point during the exchange, the subject reportedly became combative with the desk officer and managed to steal the officer’s gun and opened fire from within the police station.
Remarkably, no one was struck with any gun fire allegedly shot by the suspect.
The station commander was said to have responded to the ongoing ruckus within the station and returned fire at the armed suspect, but the suspect was not struck by any returned fire.
According to LAPD Chief Michael Moore, the suspect then fled from the station and entered a vehicle when officers then pursued the suspect, eventually catching up to him in the area of 18th Street and Pacific Avenue.
Police took the man into custody, with one officer having suffered minor injuries during the arrest reportedly.
As for the desk officer that had first confronted the suspect, Chief Moore says that his head injury that was sustained was consistent with someone who’d been “pistol-whipped”.
Thankfully, the desk officer only suffered some “bumps and bruises” according to Chief Moore:
“Spoke with officer at hospital. He is resting and will be ok. Bumps and bruises. He was not shot. Harbor units responding pursued suspect and took him into custody.”
Spoke with officer at hospital. He is resting and will be ok. Bumps and bruises. He was not shot. Harbor units responding pursued suspect and took him into custody.
— Chief Michel Moore (@LAPDChiefMoore) September 27, 2020
As mentioned earlier, there was some widespread confusion early-on when the incident was first reported on by local media outlets – namely, reports that the officer was instead shot instead of only being shot at.
Part of that confusion came from when L.A. City Councilmember Joe Buscaino had tweeted:
“My prayers to the [LAPD Harbor Division} officer who was shot tonight. I’m heading to the hospital now…”
https://twitter.com/JoeBuscaino/status/1310095657596645376
What likely also further added to the confusion was when the LAPD had released preliminary details on the incident that described the situation as an “officer involved shooting” – which technically it was.
While no one was reportedly shot, whenever gunfire is exchanged between a suspect and police, that scenario falls under the umbrella term of an officer involved shooting.
People jumped when they heard that it was an officer involved shooting – which technically it was. When cops are fired upon or fire at someone, whether someone is hit or not, it’s called an OIS. People heard that and thought a cop was shot after an injury was reported.
— Greg Hoyt (@GregHoytLET) September 27, 2020
The identity of the suspect has not been released as of yet, nor the name of the desk officer injured during the initial confrontation from inside of the police station.
What has been said about the suspect thus far is that he’d believed to be around 29-years-old.
Mayor Eric Garcetti took to Twitter shortly after the attack, offering his support of the officer that was injured that evening:
“Sending my best wishes for a quick and full recovery to our [LAPD] officer injured in an incident at the Harbor Station tonight. The officer is in stable condition and we’re closely monitoring the situation.”
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.
— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) September 27, 2020
The injured officer was transported to the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center on the evening of the 26th, and all reports as of now indicate that the officer should be just fine and fully recover from the sustained head injury.
While matters could have turned out far worse given the circumstances, it’s simply amazing that not a single person was struck with gunfire from the discharged weapon inside of the police station.
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