LOS ANGELES _ One officer was killed and a second injured in a shootout with a gang member who was wounded in the Monday morning altercation in Whittier, authorities said.
Two Whittier Police Department officers responding to the scene of a traffic collision were getting out of their vehicle about 8 a.m. when a gang member driving a stolen car opened fire with a semiautomatic pistol, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Lt. John Corina.
The two officers and wounded suspect were taken to the hospital, where one officer was pronounced dead, Corina said. The other wounded officer and the suspect are in stable condition.
The wounded suspect was a known gang member, Corina said.
Emergency responders at the scene near Colima Road and Mar Vista Street performed CPR on a male officer while wheeling him into an ambulance, said Brian Feinzimer, a freelance photojournalist who was at the scene as authorities responded Monday morning.
Also visible in the eastbound lanes of Mar Vista Street east of Colima Road was a Whittier Police SUV with shattered windows and a suspect who was handcuffed face down on the pavement, Feinzimer said.
The Whittier Police Department has about 128 sworn officers that police the cities of Whittier and Santa Fe Springs in southeastern Los Angeles County.
