Officers Fearing for Their Safety Kill 1 Man, Wound 3--but Find No Weapons : Shootings: In one case, an off-duty deputy fires 17 rounds after men he was pursuing in his own car ram it with their vehicle.

One man was killed and three others were wounded in three separate incidents Saturday morning in which investigating officers, saying that they feared for their lives, fired at men who they thought were in possession of a firearm or reaching for one, authorities said.

But in each instance, no firearm was found by investigators.

A Cudahy man was shot and killed by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who responded to a family disturbance call at an apartment in the 3900 block of Walnut Street.

Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Larry Lincoln said two unidentified deputies approached the apartment of Emiliano Camacho, 40, about 1:48 a.m. when Camacho flung open the front door and pointed a “rifle-like” object at the officers.

“The deputies took cover and fired two shots, striking (Camacho) in the upper torso,” Lincoln said.

The wounded man stumbled back into the apartment. The man’s 35-year-old wife, Evangelina, and two children, ages 15 and 5, came out of the residence. They were not injured.

Deputies surrounded the apartment and said they repeatedly called for Camacho to give himself up.

Lincoln said a sheriff’s special weapons team arrived and fired tear gas into the apartment. A short time later, the SWAT team members entered and found Camacho dead in a rear bedroom.

The rifle-like object turned out to be a 2 1/2-foot wooden club, which was found next to the dead man’s body, Lincoln said.

Meanwhile, in a bizarre pre-dawn car chase, two men were wounded and apprehended after an off-duty sheriff’s deputy saw them walking near Jersey Avenue in Artesia with what he thought was a stolen car radio.

The chain of events began at 4:50 a.m., when John Kalnas, 27, an off-duty deputy assigned to the Lomita sheriff’s station, was with some friends, saw the two men and began following them in his late-model Toyota.

Sheriff’s spokesman Lincoln said Kalnas also called the Norwalk sheriff’s station and told them of his suspicions and his location.

After a short time, the men discovered that they were being followed by Kalnas and his friends in Kalnas’ car. One of the men “produced a gun and pointed it at the off-duty deputy and his friends,” Lincoln said.

The spokesman said Kalnas reported seeing a muzzle flash from the direction of the two men and believed the flash to be a gunshot. Kalnas backed his car away and the two men ran away.

A short time later, the two men, joined by a third man, were seen in a red Chevrolet a short distance away near 167th Street, and Kalnas gave chase in his car.

In the midst of the chase, the Chevy made a sudden U-turn and came directly at the pursuing Toyota, Lincoln said. Kalnas put his car into reverse but the oncoming auto crashed into it. The Chevrolet rammed Kalnas’ car twice more. One occupant threw a tire jack at the pursuers.

“Deputies, believing the men were armed and about to shoot at them again, fired an undetermined number of rounds after the vehicle assault,” Lincoln said.

The Chevrolet containing the three men crashed into a nearby chain-link fence in the 16700 block of Pioneer Boulevard, investigators said. Additional shots were fired at that point by other deputies called to the scene from the Norwalk and Lakewood stations.

Two men, identified as William Varize, 19, and Raymond Childrey, 18, were found hiding between two homes in the 11700 block of 168th Street. Lincoln said both men were told to lie still on the ground and to keep their hands in plain view.

But “Varize rolled to his side and moved his hands toward his body, keeping his hands hidden from the deputies’ view,” the spokesman said. “Fearing that he was arming himself, two deputies fired a total of three rounds.”

It was later determined that Kalnas fired a total of 17 rounds during the incident.

Varize, who was wounded in the shoulders and the upper torso, was arrested without further incident. He was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center, where he was in stable condition late Saturday.

Childrey, who was apparently wounded in both arms by Kalnas during the ramming of the Toyota, offered no resistance and was taken into custody. He was treated at Pioneer Hospital in Artesia.

Both men were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, Lincoln said.

The third man escaped and was being sought by authorities.

Lincoln said neither man had a gun when they were apprehended. And a thorough search of the area did not turn up any weapons, Lincoln added. Authorities provided no information on what might have caused a muzzle flash.

In a third incident, a police officer in South Los Angeles shot and wounded an unarmed man who had been sleeping in an abandoned house.

Officers Garland Hardeman, 34, and Semmie Reid, 29, were investigating a report of a possible body in the house at 4251 S. Western Ave. about 2 a.m. when they found Dennis Tate, 59, sleeping on the floor, Lt. William Hall said.

When they identified themselves as police officers, Tate stood up and “hesitated and when he appeared . . . he had his hands in his pockets,” Hall said.

When the man jumped through a doorway and removed his hands from his pockets, Hall said, Hardeman, afraid that he was reaching for a gun, shot him.

Tate was wounded in the lower left leg and taken to Brotman Medical Center in Culver City.

Tate, who was unarmed, will not be charged with any crime, Hall said.