2 Deputies, Boy Shot in Narcotics Raid Shoot-Out

Two sheriff’s deputies were shot, one critically, Friday night when an anti-gang unit tried to serve a narcotics search warrant at a house in South-Central Los Angeles and came under heavy gunfire, authorities said.

A 17-year-old male who was arrested at the scene after suffering minor injuries tried to escape from an ambulance and was shot twice by a female sheriff’s deputy.

The wounded deputies, whose names were not released, were taken to County-USC Medical Center at about 8:15 p.m. A 31-year-old deputy shot in the head underwent surgery. A 29-year-old deputy shot in the arm was listed in fair condition and was recovering in the hospital’s trauma unit.

The juvenile was taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Hospital where he was listed in stable condition with gunshot wounds to the right chest and right shoulder.

The youth and three men were inside a house at 55th and Normandie as the two deputies and four narcotics investigators with the sheriff’s Operation Safe Street Detail approached with a search warrant, authorities said. An investigation had revealed that drugs were inside the house, they said.

“As they approached the residence, they were met with gunfire,” said sheriff’s spokesman Hal Grant. “Heavy gunfire was exchanged during which the two deputies were wounded.”