Los Angeles Police Kill Fleeing Man in Stolen Police Car; Officer Shot
Copyright 2002/Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times...07/07/2002
Hector Becerra, Times Staff Writer

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 an 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, Pomerey
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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