Los Angeles siege leaves 5 dead, police devastated
A family is ripped apart and the SWAT unit suffers the first on-duty fatality in its four-decade history.
The standoff began shortly after a man in Winnetka called 911 saying he had gunned down three relatives. It ended early Thursday -- more than eight hours later -- with a single round from a police sniper who killed the suspect as he emerged from his burning house firing a barrage of bullets. In between, two highly decorated Los Angeles Police Department officers were shot, one fatally.
The LAPD was deeply shaken by the nightlong siege in an otherwise quiet San Fernando Valley neighborhood. Officer Randal Simmons, described as "the rock" of the elite SWAT team, became the first member in its four-decade history to die in the line of duty, taking a gunshot to the neck as the unit stormed the house in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue hostages and end the conflict.
A fellow SWAT officer, James Veenstra, was shot and seriously wounded but was expected to recover.
Bratton photo: A caption with a photo in Friday's Section A of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton discussing the shooting death of a SWAT officer identified them both as being at left. Villaraigosa was at left in the photo, Bratton at right.
Police did not officially say which of the sons was the shooter. Multiple police sources, however, identified him as Edwin Rivera.
Friends and relatives said there had been strains in the family involving the father's relationship with a girlfriend. The boys' mother died seven or eight years ago, family members said. A friend, Jose Ortiz, 21, said Edwin was a Reseda High School dropout.
"I don't know what would make him do something like that," Ortiz said. "I never would have expected this to happen."
Antonio Rivera, 28, of Panorama City said he was the brother of Gerardo Rivera and the uncle of the three young men and a fourth brother who was living on his own. He said that Gerardo Rivera came to the United States about 25 years ago and that all of his sons were born in this country.
Reflecting on the violence that had just occurred, he said: "You never know when something happens in the mind."
Of those inside the house, the only known survivor was a woman, believed to have been the father's girlfriend, who escaped before dawn Thursday when police fired tear gas into the house and knocked down a back wall in an attempt to expose the shooter. She was taken to a hospital, apparently for treatment of tear gas inhalation, but was not believed to be seriously hurt.
