Pubdate: Sun, 07 Jul 2002
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2002 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Hector Becerra, Times Staff Writer
Note: Times staff writer Anna Gorman contributed to this report.

POLICE KILL FLEEING MAN; OFFICER SHOT

A Los Angeles police officer was shot in the wrist and a fleeing suspect 
was killed Saturday night on the Harbor Freeway, authorities said.

The incident began when two officers saw a man they believe was either 
using or dealing drugs at 79th and Figueroa streets in Southwest Los 
Angeles. The officers approached the suspect, who was sitting outside an 
abandoned building. There was a brief scuffle, with the man knocking down 
the officers, LAPD Deputy Chief David Gascon said. The officers suffered 
minor injuries.

The man jumped into the police car and drove away, prompting the officers 
to shoot at the fleeing car, witnesses and police said. The man was not hit 
at that time. Backup officers gave chase while a police helicopter tracked 
the patrol car. After a short pursuit, the man stopped on the freeway near 
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Officers fired beanbag rounds. The police did not believe the man was 
armed, said Interim Police Chief Martin Pomeroy.

Officers tried to pull him out of the police car, Pomeroy said. Then, 
believing the man was reaching for a weapon, at least one of the officers 
opened fire, killing him.

About two dozen LAPD officers converged on the scene of the shooting, which 
was reported at 7:36 p.m. Shortly after the shooting, several officers 
huddled around a wounded colleague. Nearby, the suspect's body lay across 
one of the traffic lanes.

The Newton Division officer was taken to St. Francis Medical Center in 
Lynwood, where he underwent surgery for a gunshot wound to the wrist, 
authorities said. It was unclear whether he was shot by the suspect or by 
one of his fellow officers, Pomeroy said. He was in stable condition late 
Saturday night.

The Harbor Freeway was closed and traffic backed up for miles.

Authorities did not release the identities of the officers involved or the 
suspect.
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