Police may use robot to search for shooter in Willowbrook standoff
A standoff between Los Angeles police and a gunman holed up in a Willowbrook home continued into Wednesday morning with little changed since the incident began.
Heavily armed officers in riot gear surrounded a home in the 2200 block of East 117th Street where police say a gunman wounded two officers during an intense firefight Tuesday night.
LAPD Sgt. Albert Gonzalez told reporters at the scene Wednesday morning that police are considering sending a robot into the home to verify the gunman is still inside.
“They’ve tried to make contact with him telephonically ... ” Gonzalez told KTLA. “They have equipment such as a bear cat, smoke that can be utilized to try to encourage the suspect to give up.”
The gunman was in the attic above the home’s kitchen when he shot a LAPD gang officer who peered inside, authorities told The Times. The officer was wounded in the cheek and neck.
The officer underwent surgery overnight and is listed in stable condition in an intensive-care unit, Gonzalez said Wednesday. A county probation officer was also wounded, police said.
The officers were part of a unit conducting a parole-probation search of the home in an area patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Police were leaving the property after searching for a woman there when they smelled marijuana and decided to investigate, KTLA reported.
Officers spoke with people inside the home and learned some were violating parole by being around the drug, according to KTLA.
Soon after, the shooting began, police said, with at least five officers exchanging gunfire with the suspect as rounds ripped through the ceiling and floor.
“He has shown no regard for human life by shooting at our officers,” LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said of the gunman.
Late Tuesday, officers evacuated residents from the area as police with high-powered rifles maintained positions outside the home.
The gun battle followed an ambush early Tuesday during which an attacker shot at two LAPD undercover detectives outside the Wilshire station in Mid-City.
That shooting sparked a daylong manhunt in which officers searched unsuccessfully for the attacker.
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