Holdup Goes Awry When Officer Fires on Suspects : Crime: The off-duty Arcadia policeman kills one assailant, wounds another and suffers a gunshot injury during the Pasadena shootout.

A group of armed, would-be robbers apparently picked on the wrong man Wednesday evening when they tangled with an off-duty police officer standing in front of a Pasadena karate studio, police said Thursday.

In the ensuing shootout, police said, the officer, who works undercover for the Arcadia Police Department, was wounded. But they said he fired his .45-caliber handgun, killing one assailant and wounding another as two or three accomplices ran to a car and fled.

“(The robbers) saw four or five guys standing there and probably thought they would be an easy hit,” said Joe Miller, a karate instructor who arrived on the scene in a largely residential neighborhood in northwest Pasadena moments after the shooting.

Anthony Denham, 21, of Altadena died at the scene. James Hope, 19, of Pasadena was wounded in the abdomen and taken to the jail ward at County-USC Medical Center. Both young men were identified by police as Pasadena-area gang members.

The 31-year-old officer, whose name was not released for security reasons, was in stable condition Thursday at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, where he was being treated for an abdominal wound.

Pasadena police were seeking two or more suspects in the shooting. Meanwhile, the district attorney’s office was investigating, as is routine in officer-involved shootings.

The shootout occurred at 7:05 p.m. outside Zanshin Goshin Dojo, a martial arts school at 6 Esther St. Miller said the Arcadia officer and his companions were waiting for him to arrive to begin a seminar in Taizian Ryu, a specialized form of police apprehension training.

But before Miller arrived, the robbers parked their car around the corner and confronted the five men, demanding money, Pasadena Police Lt. Wayne Hiltz said. Some victims handed over their wallets and cash, but two or more of the robbers opened fire, Hiltz said. The Arcadia officer then drew his handgun and returned fire, Hiltz said.

“The incident occurred in a matter of seconds and at least a dozen shots were fired,” he said.

The karate school, which opened in February and does business mainly through word-of-mouth, is one favored by law enforcement officers who make up the majority of students, owner Gil Adams said. The small studio is near Fair Oaks Avenue in a neighborhood plagued by gang and crime problems.

The Arcadia officer was not a student at the school, but is a friend of Adams, Arcadia Police Chief Neal Johnson said Thursday.

The officer began his 10-year career with the 77-officer force as a teen-ager, working as an Explorer Scout volunteer. After receiving his police training, he worked patrol duties and went on to undercover narcotics work. He is on loan to a federal anti-drug task force, Johnson said.

“We have got a lot of good officers, but he’s one of the finest,” Johnson said.