Chronology of events provided by police and...
Chronology of events provided by police and coroner’s officials:
SATURDAY
* 6:30-6:45 p.m.: Burbank Police Officer Gregory Campbell
questions the occupants of a 1999 Cadillac Escalade with no visible
registration tags parked in the north lot of the Ramada Inn at 2900
N. San Fernando Blvd. Campbell questions Ramon Aranda, 25, who is
seated in the driver’s seat, and passenger David A. Garcia, 19.
Campbell, 41, approaches the sport utility vehicle and asks for
registration, which the suspects say they do not have. Officer
Matthew Pavelka, 26, who was en route to the scene because he heard
Campbell’s initial stop over the police radio, enters the lot in his
patrol car.
Pavelka and Campbell approach the Escalade without their guns
drawn. When the officers get to within 15 feet of the two men, Garcia
and Aranda allegedly get out of the Escalade with handguns drawn and
fire 30 rounds at Pavelka and Campbell, who return about 15 rounds.
The officers are wearing bulletproof vests, but both are hit several
times. Garcia runs away. A critically wounded Pavelka radios for
help. Within three minutes, several units respond.
* 6:45 p.m.-7 p.m.: Aranda dies in the parking lot from gunshot
wounds to the chest. Burbank Police officers respond, along with
officers from the Glendale Police Department. Police immediately set
up a perimeter bordered by Hollywood Way, Buena Vista Street, San
Fernando Boulevard and the Golden State (5) Freeway. Pavelka and
Campbell are taken to local hospitals. Traffic is stopped on the
freeway between Hollywood Way and Buena Vista Street for several
hours as the search for Garcia continues into the night with K-9
units and helicopters. Some residents within the area being searched
by police are asked to stay inside their homes.
* 7:52 p.m.: Pavelka is pronounced dead during surgery at
Providence St. Joseph Medical Center.
* Saturday night-Sunday morning: Most of Burbank’s off-duty police
officers join the on-duty force in the search for Garcia, along with
other agencies. Glendale Police send a special response team, a
special enforce- ment detail and 20 field officers to help cover
Burbank patrols.
SUNDAY
* Erwin DeLeon, 20, and James B. Garcia, 19 -- David A. Garcia’s
twin brother -- are arrested Sunday during a warrant search at a home
in Sun Valley. A machine gun and three assault rifles were found.
They also are accused of aiding the suspect in his getaway, police
said.
* 4 p.m.: Police Chief Thomas Hoefel holds a news conference at
department headquarters. He announces the names of the deceased, and
calls the tragedy -- the first Burbank officer-related shooting death
in more than 80 years -- a “terrible stressor” on the department.
Burbank leads the investigation, which expands into the northeast San
Fernando Valley, including Sun Valley.
MONDAY
* As police continue to hunt for Pavelka’s suspected killer, a
makeshift memorial of flowers, candles and notes grows at the base of
the Police and Fire Memorial at Burbank Police and Fire headquarters.
A steady flow of well-wishers visits the memorial. Police continue to
serve search warrants in the area. Officers pursue a possible lead in
Tujunga that turns out not to be related to the Burbank shooting.
TUESDAY
* A multi-agency task force continues to search for Garcia,
focusing on his family and friends. Pavelka’s family pleads for the
public’s help in finding Garcia in a news conference at police
headquarters. DeLeon and James B. Garcia plead not guilty to six
felony charges, including being accessories after the fact, in
Burbank Superior Court. Pavelka’s funeral plans are announced for
Friday at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.