Inglewood Police Wage Battle With 3 Gunmen

Margaret Wilson was roused from sleep early Thursday when a running gun battle between Inglewood police and three gunmen came to a dramatic end just outside her door.

Wilson, a retiree who recently bought a condominium with her husband in Inglewood, said the chaotic exchange of gunfire reminded her of the civil war that had forced her to flee Liberia and return to the United States in 1998. “But I didn’t think I was going to run into a war in my own backyard,” she said.

Like many of the residents of the 100 block of Oak Street, she remained stunned Thursday afternoon over the confrontation with police that left one gunman dead, two others wounded and two officers hurt.

The incident began about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday after police received a call about a shooting victim at Robert F. Kennedy Hospital in Hawthorne. That shooting involved three men in a white Jeep Grand Cherokee, police were told.

Less than half an hour later, Inglewood police saw three young men get into a vehicle fitting that description at La Brea Avenue and Regent Street. As a police cruiser approached, the Jeep rammed it head-on, said Lt. Alex Perez of the Inglewood Police Department’s criminal investigations bureau. That collision left one officer with a broken arm.

A high-speed pursuit began, heading west for eight blocks on Regent Street, with the gunmen exchanging fire with officers. It ended when the fleeing driver tried to turn onto Oak Street, hit the curb and crashed. Authorities believe the man who was killed died when he was thrown from the vehicle and it landed on him.

After the crash, one of the gunmen jumped out of the vehicle and began firing at officers. He was shot and arrested.

The third man tried to flee, but was shot and taken into custody near the San Diego Freeway.

Police identified the two surviving suspects as Victor Manuel Flores, 24, and Daniel Arrellano, 20. Flores was being held in the County-USC Medical Center jail ward. Arrellano was in critical condition at another hospital. The dead suspect’s identity was not released. It was unclear which suspect was the driver.

Perez said there is a possibility that a fourth person was involved, although only three were in the vehicle.

Of the second officer who was hurt, Perez would only say that the his injury was pursuit-related and not serious.