LAPD officer is shot in Watts
The officer is expected to survive after being wounded when police responded to a possible hostage situation. The man who shot the officer barricaded himself in a home and was later arrested.
A man who barricaded himself in a home in Watts for several hours and shot a Los Angeles police officer was arrested this morning.
A SWAT team entered the home and was searching the attic and closet areas when they located the man shortly before 9 a.m. He was uninjured and was cooperating with police, said Officer Ana Aguirre, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
Three people rushed out of the house when officers responded to a call shortly after 2 a.m. of a possible hostage situation in the 10900 block of Croesus Avenue, said Officer Norma Eisenman, another spokeswoman.
The people who ran out of the house told police that the officers "weren't needed anymore and that everything was good," she said.
Officers entered the home anyway and were met by gunfire. Police returned fire before they exited.
The officer who was shot was taken to the hospital with wounds in his right forearm and chest and was undergoing surgery this morning at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. The four-year LAPD veteran is expected to survive, said Cmdr. Andy Smith. "The bulletproof vest saved his life," said Sgt. Ruby Malachi, another LAPD spokeswoman.
Several SWAT teams, including armored vehicles, had surrounded the home.
Witnesses told police that the man was waving a gun inside the house before officers arrived. The suspect has a history of mental illness, police said.
Winton and Wagner are Times staff writers.
richard.winton@latimes.com
james.wagner@latimes.com
