Police Shoot Teen Suspect in Armed Robbery

A teenager suspected of robbery and grand theft was shot in the stomach by a Los Angeles police officer Wednesday morning when the youth emerged from his apartment bedroom pointing a pistol, authorities said.

Benjamin Shepard, 18, who authorities said was in critical condition late Wednesday, was being sought in connection with crimes in the LAPD’s Devonshire Division, police said.

Shepard now is expected to be charged with attempted murder of a police officer, police said.

The shooting occurred shortly before 9 a.m. when investigating officers entered Shepard’s third-floor apartment at the Versailles complex at 23100 Ave. San Luis.

“The officers announced themselves. They invited the suspect to come out of his bedroom,” said Martin Pomeroy, deputy chief in charge of the LAPD’s Valley Bureau. “When he emerged he was holding a handgun . . . One shot was fired.”

Fire Department spokesmen said Shepard was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center. Police initially said his wound was not life threatening, but later said he was in critical condition. A hospital spokesman declined to provide Shepard’s condition.

No officers or other tenants were injured.

“To my knowledge there was no other physical confrontation and the officers were all fine,” Pomeroy said.

Lt. Tony Alba, a police spokesman, said Shepard is suspected in a holdup in a Granada Hills home July 9, when a masked robber wielding a semiautomatic pistol confronted a man in his home and tied him up while threatening him, Alba said.

On Wednesday, a team of officers was allowed into Shepard’s apartment by a 17-year-old girl who apparently shared the unit with him, although he was not her boyfriend, Alba said.

Police said Shepard opened his bedroom door slowly and pointed a semiautomatic handgun at Officer Bruce Oakley, a 7 1/2-year veteran of the Police Department. Oakley, 39, fired one shot from his 9mm pistol, striking Shepard in his midsection.

Alba said a preliminary review appeared to show that the police entry team acted properly, especially since Shepard drew a weapon.

“That certainly doesn’t indicate that the officers reacted too quickly,” he said.

Scott Griffin, property manager for the apartment complex, said that many residents and workers at the 253-unit building were stunned.

“At this point I’m clueless,” Griffin said. “We’re all so shocked about what happened.”

Some residents and neighbors described Shepard favorably, but others said he seemed like a thug.

“He wasn’t a bad guy,” said one young woman who declined to give her name. “He was not a dangerous person. He was very caring.”

Randy Ritter, 20, who lives nearby, said Shepard appeared to be a tough character at times, but “didn’t seem like he was a bad kid.”

Several residents said the shooting was a frightening experience for tenants of the usually quiet complex.

Todd Merriss, 28, said he and his wife, Myla, moved to the complex about eight months ago because the area was considered fairly safe. Myla Merriss is seven months pregnant with the couple’s first child, he said.

“Everybody wants to think they live in a better area than they do,” Merriss said. “This is reality.”