Supply of Arms Found After Man Is Shot by L.A. Officer

Los Angeles police confiscated a .45-caliber submachine gun, a .30-caliber carbine and a .25-caliber automatic pistol from the residence of a man shot by a policeman after allegedly pointing a rifle at the officer.

Milton Lewis, 19, of Los Angeles, was reported in satisfactory condition Saturday, recovering from a bullet that struck his lower left leg. He was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

According to police spokesman Jerry Dible, the incident began about 6 p.m. Friday when Metro Division officers Kenneth Yerkes and John Puis spotted a group in a parking lot in the 2000 block of 103rd Street.

After turning their unmarked car into the lot, Yerkes and Puis saw another group and noticed that one member appeared to be holding an assault rifle, Dible said. The officers got out of their car and called out that they were police officers.

The armed suspect pointed the weapon in their direction and Yerkes fired four rounds from his 9 mm. Beretta pistol at the suspect, Dible said. Four others fled.

Several minutes later, an ambulance was dispatched to an address in the 2000 block of E. 101 Street. Police, who also went to the location, found the wounded Lewis, who was identified as the man with the rifle.

Lewis appeared to have been injured by a bullet that passed through his leg. He was taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center for treatment and subsequently to the jail ward at County-USC Medical Center.

At Lewis’ residence, officers confiscated the weapons and numerous boxes of ammunition.