Suspected Gang Member Shot to Death by Officer
A suspected gang member was killed Thursday in an exchange of gunfire with an undercover Los Angeles police officer outside a Highland Park church, authorities said.
Police said they did not know what prompted Joel Mariscal, 18, of Los Angeles, to start shooting at the officer. Detectives said that Mariscal and other suspected gang members were in the parking lot of Faith United Presbyterian Church on North Avenue 53 about 1 p.m. when undercover vice officer William Rhetts and an unidentified partner drove into the parking lot.
When Rhetts got out of his patrol car, Mariscal approached him and fired about five rounds at him; Rhetts fired back 13 times, Molinar said. One of Mariscal’s companions apparently retrieved the youth’s gun and fled, detectives said.
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