Police Hunt for Pair Rattles Neighborhood

About 1,200 students spent five hours under lockdown at an elementary school in unincorporated South Los Angeles and residents in a six-block area were ordered to stay inside their homes Friday as police searched for two suspects in a drive-by shooting.

At one point, officers chased the suspects into a cul de sac next to Woodcrest Elementary School.

One officer fired several shots but apparently missed the pair. The men jumped a fence and escaped.

By 8:30 p.m., officers from several agencies were winding down the search, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Patterson.

A detective working undercover in Helen Keller County Park in Athens for the interagency team called Los Angeles IMPACT witnessed the 2:30 p.m. drive-by shooting. The gunman and a second man were in a blue Chevrolet Cavalier and other undercover officers working nearby secretly followed the vehicle, said Lt. Walt Krumbach, deputy director of L.A. IMPACT.

The shooting victim was taken by friends to a hospital, Krumbach said.

The suspects apparently realized they were being followed and sped up Vermont Avenue to 108th Street, which dead-ends at the school.

An officer from an unidentified agency fired several times at the two men during the pursuit. Krumbach said the suspects had guns but did not shoot.

But he added, “We know they’re not afraid to use their weapons because they just did a drive-by shooting, they’re desperate and they’re trying to get away.”

While police cordoned off six blocks around the school, a sheriff’s helicopter and dogs helped in the search. Deputies drove down residential streets, telling residents to lock their doors.

At Woodcrest Elementary on West 109th Street, students were locked in classrooms until about 7:30 p.m., when buses took them to parents waiting outside the cordoned area.