One of two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies critically wounded in an ambush last weekend was released from the hospital Wednesday as police continued their intense manhunt for the shooter, according to reports.
The 24-year-old male officer was discharged from St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, four days after he and a 31-year-old female officer were shot multiple times as they sat inside their parked police cruiser in Compton.
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“He has a long road ahead for recovery,” Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva tweeted. “But he’s not alone. We, as a community, are in this together.”
The condition of the female officer, who is the mother of a 6-year-old boy, was not clear Wednesday, NBC News reported. A $100,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to the gunman who has yet to be identified.
What happened
The random shooting happened Saturday in Compton.
Police described the suspect as a dark-skinned man, between the age of 28 and 30, who was wearing dark clothing.
Surveillance video shows the man approach the marked squad car from behind. After walking up to the passenger-side door, he points the weapon and fires several times then quickly runs away. Seconds later, one of the deputies is shown stumbling out of the passenger-side door.
Emergency dispatches later revealed one of the wounded officers managed to call for help.
Search for the shooter
Villanueva said detectives are chasing “promising leads” and suggested that there may have been a getaway driver, according to ABC News 7.
“We’re on the right path,” he said Tuesday, adding that investigators were “working day and night to identify and arrest these cowards.”
There was no apparent motive for the attack, officials said, and Villanueva called the officers' survival “a double miracle.”
Since the shooting, additional surveillance video has emerged from a different angle, showing the female officer struggling to help her partner even as she is bleeding from her own wounds.
Police did not release the names of the victims but said both attended the police academy together and were sworn in only 14 months ago, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Shooting politicized
The shooting has become politicized amid the debate over social justice and police brutality in America in the wake of George Floyd’s death in May.
Villanueva stirred controversy this week after he challenged NBA star LeBron James to mirror his support for the Black Lives Matter movement by denouncing violence against the police and matching the reward offer for the arrest of the shooter. James, however, has not responded.
Within 24 hours of the attack, Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Juanita Navarro-Suarez used racist stereotypes when she referenced the case on social media. One of her Twitter posts featured a GIF of a Black man counting money, the Times reports. “And here’s the neighborhood homies and enemies ‘bout to come up’ on that $100,000 #REWARD because $100,000 dollas is $100,000 dollas.”
Navarro-Suarez deleted the tweets within about two hours. When asked to respond, she said: “Everyone has an opinion, and that’s it,” The Times reported.
Another tweet written by Navarro-Suarez said: “My advice to all the ex-girlfriends, side pieces, friends, wifey, ol' lady, dime, queen, baby momma who know the #ComptonAmbush shooter of 2 LA Sheriff’s about getting that $100,000 #REWARD ...” The comments were accompanied by an image of a Black woman saying, “Make that money girl.”
The tweets were quickly condemned as unprofessional, perpetuating offensive stereotypes of Black communities and exacerbating already deep tensions with law enforcement.
News of the shooting also quickly caught the attention of President Donald Trump, who on Sunday denounced the attack and called for swift justice against the perpetrator.
“Animals that must be hit hard!” Trump said, later tweeting about the officers: “If they die, fast trial death penalty for the killer. Only way to stop this!”
Democratic nominee Joe Biden also called the shooting “cold-blooded.”
“This cold-blooded shooting is unconscionable and the perpetrator must be brought to justice,” he said on Twitter. “Acts of lawlessness and violence directed against police officers are unacceptable, outrageous, and entirely counterproductive to the pursuit of greater peace and justice in America - as are the actions of those who cheer such attacks on. Those who perpetrate these crimes must be brought to justice, and, if convicted, face the full brunt of the law.”
Fears of retaliation
There is speculation that the shooting could have been retaliatory as tensions continue to boil over between the L.A. Sheriff’s Department and the community about a recent spate of fatal police shootings.
Last week, L.A. detectives shot and killed a Compton man who allegedly fired at officers as they tried to serve a warrant, according to reports.
The killing of Dijon Kizzee, 29, who was stopped by officers for an unspecified code violation while riding a bicycle in Westmont on Aug. 31, has also sparked days of intense protests.
In June, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed Andres Guardado, an 18-year-old Hispanic security guard who was on his regular patrol at a California auto repair shop in Gardena.
A day earlier, officers on the same force shot and killed Terron Jammal Boone, a Black man identified as a suspect in a domestic assault and kidnapping.
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