Fugitive Killed in Shootout Was Suspect in Another Homicide

The fugitive who was killed by a barrage of gunfire Tuesday after shooting a police officer with an assault rifle has been identified as Anthony Miccio, described by authorities as also a suspect in an unsolved Long Beach homicide.

Miccio, 24, was mortally wounded after surprising a dozen police officers who were searching the home of his 15-year-old girlfriend for evidence in a September slaying, police said. As investigators interviewed the girl, Miccio sprang from a back room with an AK-47 blazing away, wounding one officer, police said.

On Wednesday, the injured officer, David Ross Smith, continued his recovery from the shoulder wound that left bullet fragments lodged in the six-year veteran’s neck.

Police went to the house hoping to find trace evidence that would show it was the site of the execution-style killing of Manny M. Rivera, a former cohort of Miccio whose body was found Sept. 4 in a trash bin in La Habra Heights. Investigators said Wednesday that Miccio is also a suspect in the Aug. 22 slaying of Gregory Orloff, 35, of Long Beach, whose body was found in that city.