Officer Trying to Help Driver Is Shot

A Los Angeles police officer who stopped to offer aid to a stalled motorist in Lincoln Heights was shot Saturday evening.

The officer, who was in stable condition at Huntington Memorial Hospital, was ending his shift and returning to the Hollenbeck station about 6:30 p.m. when he noticed a car with its hood up on a hilly side street off North Broadway, said LAPD Cmdr. Tim McBride.

When the uniformed officer approached the black Honda to offer assistance, one of the two occupants opened fire, wounding him in a lower extremity, McBride said. The officer returned fire, but the suspects fled and were the objects of an extensive search late Saturday on the Eastside.

A hospital supervisor said the officer was wounded in the foot.

The name of the injured officer, who was alone, was not immediately released. McBride said he had been assigned to a foot patrol beat in the area.

The suspects were described as two Latino men in their 20s or 30s. One suspect is 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs between 140 and 160 pounds, police said. The 1992 Honda Accord vehicle had a shattered left rear window and was missing its front license plate, McBride said.

Police had no motive for the shooting.