LAPD officer wounded in gun battle at Valley grocery store is out of the hospital

A Los Angeles police officer whose hand was wounded during a gun battle inside a Granada Hills supermarket Sunday evening is recovering at home, and the suspect is expected to face criminal charges in connection with the shooting, authorities said Monday.

Dozens of shoppers were inside the Ralphs supermarket when a shirtless man standing atop a freezer in one of the aisles began dancing and waving a gun, witnesses said. Video shows officers in plainclothes with bullet-resistant vests and a handheld shield entering the store about 6:30 p.m. after responding to the disturbance call and learning the man was armed.

As officers moved in to detain the man, he fired a gun at them, Assistant Chief Horace Frank said. Officers returned fire, and one officer suffered a graze wound during the exchange, Frank said.

The man then ran outside to an adjacent business at Devonshire and Balboa boulevards, briefly waving a gun at a person inside before being taken into custody.

A firearm believed to be the weapon used by the man was found at the scene, police said. The man, who has not been identified, was not struck by officers’ gunfire but was taken to a hospital for an evaluation, according to Joshua Rubenstein, LAPD’s communications director. As of Monday morning, there was not yet a formal booking record for him, LAPD Officer Drake Madison said.

LAPD Chief Michel Moore announced late Sunday that the wounded officer had been released from the hospital after his hand was stitched.

Whether the officer’s injury was a direct gunshot graze wound or shrapnel from items struck during the gunfight is under investigation by the LAPD’s Force Investigation Division, which handles shootings in which officers fire their weapons.