Police officer, civilian killed, another officer hurt as violence erupts in Baldwin Park
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A Baldwin Park police officer was killed in a Saturday evening shooting that wounded another officer and left a civilian man dead.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it was investigating the two homicides after Baldwin Park officers responded to reports of a possible shooting around 7 p.m. Saturday and were met with more gunfire. In the shootout, two officers were struck by gunfire.
Both officers were rushed to a hospital — one via airlift — but only one survived.
Officer Samuel “Sam” Riveros, 35, was identified Sunday as the officer who died, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He was pronounced dead at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, according to medical examiner’s records.
The second officer, Anthony Pimentel, was released from the hospital after treatment, Baldwin Park officials said Sunday.
At a news conference early Sunday, Baldwin Park Police Chief Robert A. López described Riveros as an avid snowboarder and Dodgers fan, saying he loved to travel to watch the team play at different stadiums.
“Our officer was an amazing man,” López said. Riveros had been an officer with the agency since 2016, Baldwin Park police wrote in a statement. In 2019 he joined the agency’s SWAT team and had recently become a field training officer, which the agency called a “testament to his leadership and mentorship.”
“His legacy will live on through the lives he touched and the example he set,” department officials wrote.
“Officer Riveros made the ultimate sacrifice in service to his community,” sheriff’s officials said in a statement Sunday. “He, along with Officer Pimentel and their fellow officers, bravely responded to a dangerous call, fully aware of the risks involved. Officer Riveros gave his life in service to others, a profound testament to his unwavering dedication to duty and selfless courage.”
The governor’s office ordered flags at the state Capitol to be flown at half-staff in honor of Riveros.
“We mourn the tragic loss of one of California’s brave law enforcement officers,” Gov. Gavin Newsom and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis wrote in a statement Sunday. “Our deepest condolences go out to Officer Riveros’ family, loved ones, and colleagues.”
Officials had still not released the identities of the civilian who was killed or the suspect as of Sunday morning. The suspect, who was taken into custody after the shooting, was also wounded but is stable, sheriff’s officials said.
“It’s extremely tragic to have to deal with this,” López said as he fought back tears during the news conference.
Baldwin Park police officers initially responded at 7:12 p.m. Saturday to a call about a person shooting rounds with a rifle and a man down near 4200 Filhurst Ave., according to law enforcement officials.
When they arrived in the area, officers were immediately “met by gunfire,” L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Luna said it was unknown how many shots were fired between the suspect and officers; investigators recovered the suspect’s weapon.
Officers at the scene also found a man suffering from apparent gunshot wounds in the frontyard of the home where the suspect was found, officials said. That man was taken to the hospital, where he died of his injuries.
When the civilian man was killed wasn’t clear, but Luna said investigators believed the suspect also killed him.
The Sheriff’s Department is leading the investigation into the shooting.
More than 12 hours after the shooting, the area around 13500 Palm Ave. remained an active crime scene Sunday morning. The entire block was cordoned off as emergency vehicles and investigators flooded the area.
But by the afternoon, the street had reopened. Several residents were hosing away what appeared to be blood stains from a few spots on the street, sidewalks and nearby lawns. Damage from bullet holes was obvious on windows of both a home and a police cruiser.
Juan Ruvalcaba, 81, lives across the street from where the shooting began Saturday night. He said he saw a neighbor shooting what appeared to be a long gun.
Ruvalcaba said he warned the man’s grandmother, who lived with him, to hide under a bed. He also went inside his house to stay safe.
Joe Rya, who lives about a block from where the shooting occurred, said he was still in shock about what happened Saturday night.
“You could hear the bullets flying,” Rya recalled. “Shots were banging off things. I told the children to get down.”
He said he’s lived for 34 years in the neighborhood, made up of modest single-family homes, most with fences around their frontyards. Rya considered it a relatively quiet neighborhood, though he said they heard occasional gunshots.
Beginning at 7:16 p.m. on Saturday, 11 shots rang out on Palm Avenue, according to video footage reviewed by The Times.
A homeowner whose Ring camera captured the shooting, who declined to give his name, said he thought the gunshots were fireworks. Only later did he look outside and see police cars flooding the street.
He also considered the neighborhood usually “pretty calm,” he said, standing in his frontyard just steps from police tape that cordoned off the next block.
Until Saturday, he couldn’t recall any shootings in his nine years of living on Palm Avenue, he said.
According to another video reviewed by The Times, six additional shots were fired at 7:26 p.m. near the corner of Palm and Filhurst avenues as helicopters circled overhead.
By 9 p.m. Saturday, multiple law enforcement agencies had descended on the neighborhood and were going door to door around the area. Cars from the Sheriff’s Department and West Covina and El Monte police departments were stationed in the neighborhood.
At the hospital, news helicopters were whirling above as police cruisers from various law enforcement agencies rolled into the hospital’s emergency entrance.
Nearby, several officers stood outside. Earlier in the evening, a sheriff’s deputy escorted a distraught couple through the same parking lot. An hour later, the same couple exited. They said they were relatives of one of the officers and declined to comment.
“I extend my sincerest condolences to the family, friends, colleagues and community members affected by the shooting of police officers in Baldwin Park yesterday,” Assemblymember Blanca Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) said in a statement. “I also want to express condolences to the fallen officer and his family. Thank you for the courage you held and the deeply humble decision you made to protect and serve the people of Baldwin Park, may you rest easy.”
Times staff writer Rebecca Ellis and staff photographer Luke Johnson contributed to this report.
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