LOS ANGELES _ Three suspects have been taken into custody in connection with the fatal shooting of an off-duty Los Angeles police officer at a taco stand in Lincoln Heights, authorities said Friday.
The individuals, who have not been named, were taken into custody in Riverside, Murrieta and Temecula, said LAPD Assistant Chief Bea Girmala. A law enforcement source said at least one woman was among the three suspects. Girmala said the suspects are in their 20s but declined to provide additional details.
"These are the folks we believe are responsible for the senseless murder of Juan Diaz," she said. "Everything is fresh. Interviews and such have not taken place."
Officer Juan Jose Diaz was out with friends shortly after midnight Saturday when he was fatally shot after he confronted someone tagging a wall.
"This last week reminded us of what family means," Mayor Eric Garcetti told police recruits and their relatives at a graduation ceremony Friday. "We lost one of our best. He went out there for two short years."
According to law enforcement sources, a group of young men approached Diaz sometime after the tagging exchange and began threatening the 24-year-old, his girlfriend and her two brothers. One of the men lifted his shirt to reveal a handgun.
Diaz and his group tried to hurry to their car and drive away to avoid a violent confrontation, a source said. As they got into the vehicle, the gunman opened fire, fatally wounding Diaz and injuring one of his girlfriend's brothers.
A witness flagged down an LAPD motorcycle officer, who found the two men with gunshot wounds about 1 a.m., police said. Diaz was pronounced dead; his girlfriend's brother was taken to a hospital for treatment.
The gunman claimed allegiance to the Avenues, a once-powerful gang that has lost its grip on the neighborhood in the last decade, and said Diaz and his group were in its territory, the law enforcement source said. The other two suspects taken into custody were also Avenues gang members, according to a source familiar with the arrests.
LAPD SWAT officers and detectives on Friday made arrests or executed search warrants at five locations across Southern California, law enforcement sources said.
The arrests and raids were the culmination of a nearly weeklong manhunt for those responsible for gunning down Diaz. The LAPD, using about 100 detectives and officers, finally got a break in the case early this week when they learned the identity of the alleged triggerman in the slaying.
Using surveillance by plainclothes detectives and intelligence, Robbery Homicide Division detectives were able to track the location of those believed to be involved in the shooting, the sources said. LAPD's Special Investigation Section, a unit known for its advance surveillance techniques and ability to follow suspects without detection, had the suspects under watch for at least a couple of days as detectives put together evidence tying them to the killing, they said.
SWAT teams and Metropolitan Division officers were then brought in to help take the suspects into custody in the dawn hours of Friday morning.
"We appreciate the relentless effort our detectives and officers put in to finding these killers," the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union of rank-and-file LAPD officers, said in a statement. "We urge District Attorney Jackie Lacey to prosecute these cop killers to the fullest extent of the law, including seeking the death penalty. We continue to pray for and support Officer Diaz's family during this time of grief."
Girmala praised the community's courage for providing information.
"We want to thank the community," Girmala said.
Diaz lived in Cypress Park, just three miles north of the neighborhood where he was killed.
He joined the LAPD two years ago and was assigned to the Special Operations Division, which conducts investigations into department personnel.
Friends and family said Diaz pursued a career in law enforcement to make a difference. He had wanted to be a cop since preschool, a family member told mourners at a vigil for the slain officer on Saturday night.
His sister, Anahi Diaz, told the crowd their mother and father are devastated by the killing.
"I just want to remind everyone that these people are putting their lives out there for us," she said. "We have to protect them as well; that's the least we can do. They're more than a badge. They're human beings."
Childhood friend Martin Gomez said Diaz "was never the jock, never the smart kid. He was the best kid. You could count on him for everything."
Sgt. Manuel Hernandez, Diaz's Police Academy sergeant, choked back tears as he remembered the cadet.
"I had no doubt that he was going to be a great police officer," Hernandez said. "I even joked with him that I was sure I was going to be working for him one day."
