LOS ANGELES _ A Los Angeles County sheriff's sergeant died Wednesday after he was shot while responding to a call of a residential burglary in Lancaster, authorities said.
The sergeant killed was Steve Owen, a 29-year department veteran, according to sheriff's Executive Officer Neal Tyler.
"This has been a very dark day for the Sheriff's Department," Capt. Steve Katz said. "We are all suffering right now."
The shooting occurred as Owen and his partner responded to a 911 call from a woman reporting a burglary in progress at an apartment building in the Antelope Valley city, authorities said at a news conference.
As Owen, 53, checked the rear of the apartment building, a gunman appeared and shot him.
Owen's partner, who was at the front of the building, ran to the rear and found the wounded sergeant. Owen was rushed to the hospital in a sheriff's cruiser, said Capt. Steve Katz. He died hours later.
The gunman, meanwhile, ran to the front and tried to steal Owen's cruiser. Another sheriff's deputy arrived and opened fire when the gunman threw the car into reverse and rammed another cruiser, injuring a deputy inside, Katz said.
After the collision, the gunman ran into a nearby home where two teenagers were inside. One teen was able to send a text message to alert authorities, Katz said.
Sheriff's SWAT deputies forced their way into the home and a man fled through the back, where he tried to hop a fence and was caught, Capt. Jack Ewell said.
The suspect was struck in the upper torso by gunfire, Katz said. Authorities did not name him, but said he is from the Antelope Valley and is on active parole. A weapon was recovered, though authorities did not give a description.
Owen's wife, who is a member of the department's Arson Explosive Unit, along with their two children and the sergeant's mother, managed to reach the hospital shortly before he died, Tyler said.
"Steve was very important to the Antelope Valley community," Tyler said. "Steve clearly is very much a hero."
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris, who was at the hospital, said the lawman was shot in the face.
"We forget how dangerous this job is. Steve was so brave," Parris said. "The Antelope Valley has lost a true hero today."
Parris said there were at least 100 deputies at the hospital.
"He knew them all on a first-name basis," he said.
Outside the hospital's emergency room, a dozen sheriff's and California Highway Patrol vehicles could be seen as officers in bomb squad gear and regular uniforms hugged in the parking lot.
A Sheriff's Department helicopter landed in the area a short time later, and crime scene tape hung from a sheriff's truck parked in the ambulance bay.
Initially, the Sheriff's Department reported that two deputies had been shot. Later, Sheriff Jim McDonnell said that another deputy was injured during the incident, though he had not been shot. The extent of his injuries was unclear.
Owen was part of a team of sheriff's deputies awarded the medal of valor, the department's highest honor, in 2014 for showing "tremendous bravery and determination" in saving a hostage who was held at gunpoint in a car.
The deputies were credited with risking their lives during the Nov. 26, 2013, incident, while Owen was lauded for swiftly developing a strategy to detain the hostage taker.
Since the suspect was wearing a bulletproof vest and holding a gun to the hostage, Owen determined that it was impossible to fire a clean shot to hit him. Officials said Owen made the decision to use a Taser to bring the standoff to an end. He directed a deputy to fire the Taser through an open window of the car.
When the deputy shot his Taser, the hostage managed to quickly flee from the car. Another sergeant fired a second Taser, which penetrated the suspect's bulletproof vest, incapacitating him, according to the Sheriff's Department.
