Off-Duty Officer Kills Neighbor After Rampage

An off-duty Los Angeles police sergeant shot and killed a 27-year-old Woodland Hills neighbor who crashed a truck into a line of parked cars and then tried to run down the officer, police said Tuesday.

Christopher Oliver, who authorities say was drunk, smashed the truck into six vehicles in the 23300 block of Friar Street and was attempting to mow down Sgt. Steve Ulrich, 36, when Ulrich shot him, police said.

Many residents were preparing for sleep when the shooting shook the peaceful neighborhood about 10:45 p.m. Monday.

“I heard a few shots and got so scared,” said Mahbobeh Razmara. “I looked outside and saw a guy with a gun. It shook me enough that I couldn’t sleep at all last night.”

Ulrich wasn’t in uniform, and police could not confirm whether he identified himself as a police officer before firing. Police said Ulrich began shooting because he feared for his life.

Ulrich told police he heard loud noises outside his home and went to investigate, carrying his registered 9-millimeter handgun. Oliver was heading toward his home.

Ulrich saw Oliver speeding past in a white pickup truck, said Los Angeles Police Officer Jason Lee. Ulrich called 911 on his cellular phone and waited for assistance.

Lillian Regan, who also lives on the street, said that her son tried to block Oliver’s driveway with his car, but Oliver maneuvered his truck around it.

“He just wouldn’t stop,” she said. “He was using the vehicle as a weapon. There might have been people injured.”

The confrontation occurred a few feet from Oliver’s home at the corner of Friar Street and Jackie Avenue, where his truck had stopped.

Ulrich approached the badly damaged vehicle and ordered Oliver to get out, police said. Oliver refused and gunned the truck toward Ulrich, police said.

The sergeant fired several shots into the truck, hitting Oliver in the upper body, Lee said. Oliver opened the door and fell onto a strip of grass, where he was later pronounced dead.

Two neighborhood residents said they heard five to seven shots.

Oliver had lived in his modest one-story house for about two years, just down the street from Ulrich’s residence, though police said the men did not know each other. Friends said Oliver worked various jobs and was raising a 7-year-old son. One longtime female friend stopped by the house Tuesday, clutching a pillow and crying at the site where Oliver was killed.

“He was very outgoing and had all the toys, like a motorcycle and a truck,” said neighbor Fred Transue. “He liked to play his radio loud and had a few parties, but who wouldn’t at that age?”

Ulrich has been on the LAPD force for 13 years, said department spokesman Lt. Horace Frank. Ulrich is currently working in the department’s ombudsman’s office at Parker Center. He will continue to work during the investigation, police said.

“He’s very helpful, and we all adore him here,” Regan said of Ulrich, who she remembers as a little boy growing up in the neighborhood. “We are glad he’s here on our block. He wouldn’t do anything wrong.”

Regan surveyed the damage to her vehicles as she watered her lawn Tuesday morning. Two older-model Mercedes-Benzes and a Volkswagen bus she and her husband own were slightly damaged. Down the street was a blue Nissan Maxima with a shattered rear window and a smashed tire well.

Ruth Lopez said she was glad her car wasn’t parked on the street.

“I parked in my driveway, because it’s like a freeway sometimes on this street.” She added: “These cars look like they were in a demolition derby.”