Local News in Brief : Officer Wounds Gunman

A policeman shot and wounded a man reaching for an unloaded rifle in a car parked in a South-Central Los Angeles alley early Friday, authorities said.

Officer Donald Williams, 34, fired one round from his 9-millimeter handgun through the left rear window of the car, striking Eduardo Solis, 23, in the back about 12:30 a.m., Los Angeles Police Detective Sid Nuckles said.

Williams believed Solis “was preparing to shoot him or his partner” with a .30-caliber semiautomatic M-1 rifle when the officer fired, Nuckles said.

Investigators later determined that the rifle was unloaded, but a magazine full of bullets was found in the back of the car.

Solis was taken to the jail ward at County-USC Medical Center, where he was in satisfactory condition. He was booked on a warrant for failing to appear to face charges of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Williams, an eight-year department veteran, was taking part in an anti-gang crackdown when he saw Solis sitting in the parked car in the alley, then trying to duck out of view, Nuckles said.