A person was by shot and killed Friday night in front of La Habra police headquarters after officers responded to a disturbance call at the building’s front entrance. An officer was wounded by gunfire in the confrontation and rushed to a trauma center, officials said.
A short statement late Friday from La Habra police said the officer was in “critical but stable condition.” The identity of the officer was not released.
Police said a firearm was found at the scene, but it was unclear exactly where. Many other details surrounding the violence also were unclear late Friday, including the identity of the person killed.
The nature of the “disturbance” to which officers responded also wasn’t clarified by police in their brief statement, which was issued hours after the incident occurred.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office, which investigates officer-involved shootings within its jurisdiction, was probing the shooting.
***Press Release Regarding Officer Involved Shooting*** pic.twitter.com/iAKXWJWCZi
— LaHabraPD (@LaHabraPD) August 7, 2021
People in the area near police headquarters reported hearing gunshots around 7 p.m., and investigators were interviewing neighbors and police officers who were on scene.
“I heard like three gunshots, I thought it was just fireworks,” a neighbor, Veronica Carillo, told CBS Los Angeles. “I went out running and I heard some female, like I don’t know, but it sounds like a female, and she said, ‘Drop the gun now.’”
The La Habra police station is on the northeast corner of La Habra Boulevard and Euclid Avenue, near City Hall. Overhead scenes of the area broadcast on local TV on Friday evening showed an active crime scene with several streets blocked off, and law enforcement vehicles out in force.
