Suspect’s Weapon Jammed in Ambush of Police

A man suspected of shooting at Los Angeles police officers called to his home was armed with a banned assault weapon that apparently malfunctioned during the attack, authorities said Friday, giving officers time to rescue a fallen colleague and return fire.

Reynaldo Rivera had 180 rounds of ammunition for the Colt AR-15 police say he used in the Thursday morning shootout. The weapon--the civilian equivalent of a military-issue M-16--and its 30-round magazines have been banned for several years under state and federal laws.

“If it didn’t malfunction I’m sure it would have been a lot worse,” said Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Jason Lee.

Rivera is being held without bail in Van Nuys Jail on suspicion of attempted murder. Police say he shot LAPD Officer Don Boon, 32, who is at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, recovering from his wounds. Boon’s partner, Manuel Solis, 24, suffered minor facial injuries from cinder-block fragments during the gunfight.

Solis, who with the help of Officers Frank Sanchez and David Montier pulled Boon out of the line of fire, credits his narrow escape to the tiny angel pinned to his bulletproof vest. The pin was lost during the gunfight.

“He thinks that angel saved him, and I don’t think anyone is going to convince him otherwise now,” LAPD Lt. Anthony Alba said.

Rivera, 46, described by police as an unemployed laborer, is expected to be arraigned Tuesday. His former neighbor and friend, Don Mongiello, 80, said Rivera “was just naturally depressed all the time.”

Mongiello said occasionally Rivera’s depression would give way to anger, including violent threats against those he perceived as enemies, including Rivera’s wife and police.

“He wanted to kill somebody,” said Mongiello, who has known Rivera since 1996. “He told me that.”

Recently, Mongiello said, Rivera was suffering financial troubles, having difficulty keeping up the mortgage payments on his Lake View Terrace home and a two-story North Hollywood house he bought in April 1996.

The Rivera family held four garage sales recently to raise money for basic necessities, Mongiello said. In December, Rivera and his wife moved out of the North Hollywood house and returned to their home on Kathyann Street, the scene of the shooting.

Mongiello said Rivera told him he took medication for depression, attended therapy and received disability checks for his condition.

At a press conference Thursday, LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks said Rivera appears to have “had some contact in the past with county health,” referring to the man’s mental history.

No details about Rivera’s alleged relationship with county mental health authorities were available on Friday.

Authorities offer no explanation why Rivera would have shot at the officers.

“I wish I could just ask him what his motives were,” Mongiello said. “ . . . I counseled him on everything he did. He would say, ‘Don, if there’s anything wrong with me, tell me what it is.’ ”

Los Angeles police were conducting a two-pronged investigation Friday: the alleged attack by Rivera and how officers responded to the Thursday morning call.

A crisis counselor from Pine Grove Hospital and Mental Health Center in Canoga Park had gotten a telephone call early Thursday from the Rivera home, saying Rivera was threatening to kill his family, said Lee, the LAPD spokesman.

When officers arrived at about 10:30 a.m., they saw Rivera standing at the front window and ordered him out of the house, Lee said. Rivera moved from the window and reappeared on the side of his house, where he allegedly began firing at the officers.

After a burst of gunfire, the gun stopped working, police said.

Police recovered a Colt AR-15, which has been banned under state law since 1989 and federal law since 1994. Anyone purchasing that type of weapon before the California ban is required to register with authorities. Rivera registered the weapon in 1991, according to a law enforcement source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

After he moved back into his old home in Lake View Terrace, neighbors there said Rivera would spend time in his garage, watching his son play with local children. Many mornings, he would walk next door to have coffee with Emilio Jimenez, 67, and discuss horse races.

Jimenez said he had coffee with Rivera the morning before the shooting.

“I never saw anything wrong with him,” Jimenez said. “We talked. He was very nice.”