A string of incidents described by the local Faux affiliate as “a night of terror in downtown Los Angeles” kept the LAPD jumping. It started when two innocent people were murdered in cold blood as part of what’s become a typical shooting spree. After that, a wild ride through the city ended in a SWAT standoff and more shooting. The suspect is reported dead.
Standoff with SWAT
The incidents which led to the standoff started just before 1:00 a.m. early Tuesday. The Los Angeles Police Department was dispatched for shots fired calls at Figueroa Street and Exposition Boulevard. It was a really lucky day for the first victim, who “sustained a graze wound to the head” as his “vehicle was hit by a barrage of bullets.”
They took him to the hospital to clean him up. At 1:05 a.m., further down Figueroa at 28th street, a newlywed couple wasn’t so lucky. They were waiting in the Starbucks drive-thru when the suspect “pulled up next to them in the wrong direction.”
The quick thinking driver “attempted to back out from the drive-thru. However, he was shot in the head and died at the scene.” The female passenger escaped injury. Family members relate that the victim “was 25-years-old and that another relative, reportedly his sister, worked at the Starbucks.”
The shooter was still running amuck. Twenty minutes later, “a man driving a Cadillac Escalade was shot dead near Figueroa and 7th streets.” When the ambulance arrived at the scene, “the SUV was still running.”
That’s when alert officers spotted the white Jeep Cherokee driven by the suspect, around Maple Avenue and Washington Blvd. He led officers on a wild ride.
It was described by local reports as “a pursuit that lasted for hours, often at slow speeds, along the 60 and 57 freeways. The suspect also drove erratically at times and allegedly shot outside the car window.” That’s when the standoff with LAPD SWAT began.
Family begged for surrender
Police managed to get the suspect cornered and the chase ended “on the westbound 91 Freeway near Harbor Boulevard around 3:25 a.m. where a standoff began with an LAPD SWAT team.”
The cops had one of the suspect’s family members at the scene who used a “loudspeaker to order the suspect to surrender, but he has refused to comply.” It’s not clear if they shot him or he shot himself.
Around 4 a.m. the police made their move. “Two Los Angeles police armored vehicles boxed in the suspect vehicle, but the suspect refused to exit.” Faux reports, by “5 a.m., the suspect died.
It is unclear if the suspect shot himself or was struck by police gunfire.” LAPD recovered a firearm. No officers were hurt in the incident, they assure.
Following the standoff, further details are still skimpy. The names of the victims have not been released, and neither has the name of the suspect.
Detectives think they were just random shootings but they admit they really don’t have a clue. LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division will handle the investigation.
