Suspect Shot by Officers Is ID’d

A 22-year-old parolee who was shot by Burbank police officers after firing at them during a weekend traffic stop was identified by a family member Monday as Carl Strunk.

Charges related to the incident, including attempted murder of a police officer, are pending against Strunk, who was hospitalized after the shooting and is listed in critical condition.

Police said he would be booked as soon as his condition improves.

Strunk was a passenger in a car stopped by Burbank police for a suspected traffic violation early Saturday at Olive Avenue and Beachwood Drive.

He pointed a gun and fired at least one shot at the officers, who returned fire, hitting him multiple times, Burbank Police Lt. Tim Stehr said.

Marianne Strunk, who identified herself as the suspect’s grandmother, said her grandson, a studio prop maker, had been shot at least six times in the neck, arms and right hand.

She called the shooting “an overreach of authority and unnecessary force” by police.

Burbank police officials declined to provide any specific details of the shooting--including the names of the officers, the types of weapons involved or how many times Strunk was hit--pending the outcome of an investigation by a team from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office that looks into officer-involved shootings.

Stehr said the incident unfolded when the officers, on routine patrol, pulled over a vehicle carrying four people.

While the officers were speaking to the driver, the front passenger pointed a gun at them and fired one round, according to Burbank police.

Two handguns believed to belong to Strunk were recovered from the scene, authorities said.

No one else was injured, police said.

Strunk, who was on parole for a narcotics-related conviction, is a recovering drug addict, his grandmother said.