Off-duty LAPD officer exchanges fire with drive-by shooter in Riverside County neighborhood
An off-duty Los Angeles police officer exchanged gunfire with a vehicle in a drive-by shooting in Eastvale early Tuesday, moments after he found his car had been burglarized, authorities said.
The officer was not injured in the shooting, which occurred sometime early Tuesday after he discovered that his vehicle had been burglarized in the 6500 block of Caxton Street, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
As the officer assessed the damage, someone in a vehicle driving by began shooting at him.
“The confrontation led to the off-duty officer discharging his firearm,” the Sheriff’s Department said.
Deputies were notified of the burglary at about 4:50 a.m. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the car was the officer’s personal vehicle or a police cruiser.
Deputies do not know if the shooter was injured because the vehicle fled before they arrived.
Investigators with the sheriff’s Jurupa Valley Station are investigating the incident and are asking witnesses to call (951) 955-2600.
LAPD spokesman Officer Aareon Jefferson said Riverside sheriff’s detectives will investigate the shooting and determine whether the officer was targeted.
“We are just supporting him and his family and making sure he is OK,” Jefferson said.
The shooting came hours after Los Angeles police officers were involved in a deadly shooting at the Nickerson Gardens public housing project in Watts.
In that shooting, an LAPD officer was shot and wounded by gunfire, and a man was killed by police.
The shooting occurred about 11 p.m. near 111th and Antwerp streets at the Nickerson Gardens, where police were conducting extra patrols, spokeswoman Officer Norma Eisenman said.
At the housing project, the officers saw a group of people who began dispersing and running away, she said. As police chased them, the man produced a handgun, Eisenman said.
“Shots were exchanged between the suspect and officers,” she said.
An officer was struck in the left arm, and the gunman, who died at the scene, was struck by police gunfire, Eisenman said.
A handgun was recovered at the scene, police said.
Based on preliminary information, Beck said the gunman fired at least 10 rounds.
The shootings come as law enforcement agencies throughout the country are on high alert following the killing of officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, La., earlier this month.
Beck last week announced that he was taking extra precautions to better protect officers.
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