‘These Two Men Were Loved': Two Officers Die in El Monte Shooting
The man who attacked the officers, who the law enforcement sources described as a 35-year-old man well known to El Monte police, was shot dead at the scene.
On Tuesday afternoon, two El Monte police officers were shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call at a motel. Investigators say the man who opened fire on the officers was killed at the scene.The officers, one of whom had been on the job for 22 years and the other for less than a year, were not named, but they were praised as heroes.
Ben Lowry, the interim chief of the El Monte Police Department, said Tuesday night, "These two men were loved." "They were good men, and they gave their lives trying to help someone in their community.
City officials and several law enforcement sources say that around 5:00 p.m., the two officers were sent to the "Siesta Inn" on Garvey Ave. because there was a report of a possible stabbing.
Captain Andrew Meyer of the LA County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau said that the officers "confronted the suspect," and there were two gunfights, one in a motel room and one in the parking lot.
Meyer said that a gun was found at the scene
The two injured officers were taken to LA County USC Medical Center, where they died from their injuries.At a news conference outside the emergency room on Tuesday night, El Monte Mayor Jessica Ancona said, "Heartbroken doesn't even begin to describe how sad we are."
"They were the first line of defence for the people in our community when they were basically caught off guard," Ancona said.Ancona said that one of the two officers was born and raised in El Monte, went to school there, and joined the police force to help his community.
The man who attacked the officers was shot dead at the scene. Law enforcement sources said he was 35 years old and "well known" to the El Monte PD.No one knows what the man's name is yet.
Under that name, LA County court records showed that more than a dozen crimes had been committed as far back as 2008
In a statement posted online Tuesday night, a city representative said, "The City of El Monte is saddened and shocked by tonight's tragic shooting that killed two of our own police officers." "There are no words to describe how sad and hurt we were to hear that two of our police officers had died because of this stupid act."It breaks our hearts, and we're sending their families our support."
Other officials told NBCLA that a number of other LA County police departments sent officers to El Monte to help with regular patrols so that El Monte officers could have time to grieve.
The LA County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau took over the investigation into the killing of the officers and the death of the alleged attacker. The ATF said that agents were already on the scene and helping.
A CHP officer was shot during a traffic stop in Studio City the day before the officers were killed. That CHP officer is still alive, and the alleged shooter was caught in Van Nuys on Tuesday morning.
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