Two Officers Wounded in Separate Shootings

Two police officers were shot and seriously wounded in unrelated incidents late Friday and Saturday, including one who was off duty when she surprised an assailant in her home.

Kim Bragg, a seven-year Los Angeles police officer, was shot in the chest Friday night by a burglar whom she and her 2-year-old daughter found in their Crenshaw District home. Bragg, 28, suffered a perforated lung when the bullet passed through her chest, and was in critical condition but improving at County-USC Medical Center, a spokeswoman said.

Bragg came home with her daughter at about 8 p.m., and upon finding stereo equipment missing and a bedroom window open, armed herself with her personal revolver. She looked out the window and spotted a man in her backyard, who shot her, Officer Michael Gillispie said.

Police said Bragg grabbed her daughter, got in her car and chased a black Camaro that she thought was driven by the gunman. The officer fired two shots at the speeding vehicle before it disappeared and she reached the Southwest Station where she works, about two miles from her home.

School Officer Shot

Hours later, a Los Angeles Unified School District patrol officer was shot at least three times in a gun battle with one of two men suspected of breaking into a Windsor Hills school, sheriff’s deputies said.

Angie Pryor, an eight-year member of that patrol force, was listed in serious condition at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after a shoot-out shortly before 3:30 a.m. Saturday at 54th Street School.

Pryor was shot in the chest, shoulder and thigh after suspect Michael Lawrence wrested a gun away from her partner, Joe Swan, and exchanged fire with her, said Sheriff’s Deputy Van Mosley. Lawrence, 32, was taken to the same hospital and was listed in fair condition with chest and arm wounds.

The second suspect, Santo Slade, 32, was captured by other school officers as he tried to escape.