Three LAPD cops were wounded during a wild shootout with an alleged “career criminal” who was later found dead in a Lincoln Heights apartment he had barricaded himself inside on Wednesday night.
Jonathan Magana, the alleged gunman, who police say was “a parolee at large,” was being sought by officers in the 3800 block of Broadway late Wednesday afternoon when he was spotted and gave chase. The suspect ran into a nearby building and barricaded himself inside an apartment, sparking an hours-long standoff.
Roughly two hours later, a K9 unit attempted to enter the apartment after tear gas canisters were used in an attempt to draw Magana out.
“At one point during the search. the suspect exited and fired at the officers, wounding three … who are now listed in stable condition here just behind me,” LAPD Assistant Chief Al Labrada told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday night outside L.A. County-USC Medical Center.
After shots were fired by Magana, an unknown number of police officers shot back, Labrada said, as the wounded cops were dragged to safety. SWAT officers in tactical gear entered the scene hours later, at which point Magana’s body was discovered unresponsive by officers, according to LAPD officials.
Magana was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials did not release a cause or manner of his death.
During the incident, one officer was shot in the abdomen; a second was shot in the arm; the third officer was struck by a bullet in the leg and midsection. None of the officers’ canine partners were hit in the shootout.
Labrada said on Wednesday night that the shooting by the police officers will be investigated by the LAPD’s Force Investigation Division; the department’s Robbery-Homicide Division is investigating the shooting of the officers.
Magana’s rap sheet includes a conviction on two felony counts of robbery, for which he was handed 4-year and 1-year prison sentences, and a 2014 conviction for selling meth. He was charged in January with battery on a police officer and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, records indicate, according to the L.A. Times.
Following the shootout, Mayor Karen Bass raced to L.A. County Hospital to check on the conditions of the officers. “I spoke with two of the officers who were shot,” Bass tweeted. “Both of them asked about their fellow officers before anything else.”
I just left L.A. County Hospital where I spoke with two of the officers who were shot.
Both of them asked about their fellow officers before anything else.
I ask all Angelenos to hold these officers and their families in their hearts and prayers tonight. https://t.co/S81niUhPnm
— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) March 9, 2023
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