J. Castro / Getty ImagesLife is growing increasingly dangerous for many of the nation’s police officers, as an attack in a Los Angeles Police Department Harbor Division Station showed on Saturday. (J. Castro / Getty Images)
A Los Angeles police officer was injured Saturday when a suspect hit him on the head with the officer’s own gun at the LAPD’s Harbor Division police station in San Pedro.
“Some individual came into the Harbor station, and when an officer went to speak with him, some type of confrontation occurred where we believe an officer was disarmed,” said LAPD Chief Michel Moore, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Although initial reports said the officer was shot, Moore said this was not so.
“Spoke with officer at hospital. He is resting and will be ok. Bumps and bruises. He was not shot. Harbor units responding pursued suspect and took him into custody,” Moore tweeted.
Spoke with officer at hospital. He is resting and will be ok. Bumps and bruises. He was not shot. Harbor units responding pursued suspect and took him into custody.
— Chief Michel Moore (@LAPDChiefMoore) September 27, 2020
Police said that during the incident, the suspect fired rounds from the officer’s gun, but none of the rounds struck the policeman, according to KCBS.
Moore said that he believed the suspect was able to gain access to the station because, despite restrictions to deal with the coronavirus, a door may have been propped open.
RT @ABC7: UPDATE: The LAPD now says the officer was not shot, but was injured during an altercation with the suspect. Police say the suspect took the officer’s weapon and fired multiple shots but none of them struck the officer. https://t.co/AOLCziMXdj
— Trixy Wh (@trixywh) September 27, 2020
Assistant Police Chief Horace Frank said that the Harbor Station’s watch commander was alerted by the noise of the scuffle that there was a problem.
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When he saw the struggle, he fired at the suspect, but did not hit him.
The suspect then fled and got into a car driven by another man, Frank said.
The man, who was not hit by any shots fired at him, was arrested after a short pursuit, Frank said.
This message went out to LASD deputies at the Carson station. @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/R0vW7GGPc3
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) September 27, 2020
According to KABC-TV, the pursuit that resulted in the arrest ended in a fight and injuries to another officer.
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The incident came a day after an off-duty LAPD officer was shot at in his car while it was parked in Reseda. The officer was not injured.
Earlier this month, two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies were shot as they sat in a patrol vehicle in Compton. The attack left them fighting for their lives.
The incident made news not only because of the heroism of one of the wounded deputies, but also the callous way the attack was viewed by some civilian witnesses.
City Councilman Joe Buscaino, who said he accompanied the injured officer to the hospital in Saturday’s attack, said the close call was a “reminder of the danger of police work in our city, in our state, in our region.”
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