March 16--An off-duty LAPD police officer shot two suspected burglars who had broken into his San Gabriel home Monday morning, leaving one in critical condition, police said.
The officer, who was not identified, awoke to the sound of footsteps inside his home in the 600 block of Los Olivos Drive around 10:15 a.m. and picked up an off-duty weapon, according to Lt. Eddie Hernandez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's homicide bureau.
The officer found two males inside the residence and confronted them, Hernandez said. One suspect was shot in the upper torso and leg, and the other sustained a gunshot wound to the leg, according to Hernandez.
The suspects were struck in the backyard of the home, and it was not clear whether they were armed, Hernandez said. No weapons were recovered at the scene.
The officer kept several other weapons inside the home, and investigators are still trying to determine whether any are missing, Hernandez said.
One suspect was listed in critical condition as of 5 p.m., the other in stable condition, according to Hernandez, who said the two men may have broken in through a kitchen window.
Hernandez said police arrived to find the officer and another person standing in the driveway of the home, where they were providing medical aid to a man who had been shot.
The other suspect who was shot was driven to an area hospital by two possible accomplices, Hernandez said.
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The possible accomplices have been detained, but none of the four men suspected in the break-in had been booked on criminal charges as of 5 p.m., Hernandez said.
The officer was not injured and has yet to be interviewed by the Sheriff's Department. It was not clear whether the men knew that a police officer lived at the home.
Det. Meghan Aguilar, an LAPD spokeswoman, described the officer as a 29-year department veteran. Several law enforcement sources said the officer is a lieutenant in the LAPD's Pacific Division.
San Gabriel police initially responded to the scene mid-morning, but referred the case to the Sheriff's Department.
Hernandez did not identify any of the men who were shot or detained.
Times staff writer Veronica Rocha contributed to this report.
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