United States: Two Southern California police officers were fatally shot after responding to the motel on a report of a stabbing, and the suspect was also killed, says the officials.
The deadly encounter happened about 4:47 p.m. in El Monte, a city east of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department highlighted.
Moreover, El Monte police responded to a motel on a report of a possible stabbing. When they contacted the suspect at the motel room, there was a shooting that involved police, sheriff’s homicide Capt. Andrew Meyer mentioned this in the statement.
The suspect then escaped the motel room, and there was a second shooting also involving police in the parking lot, says Meyer.
Meyer stated that the two officers who were wounded were taken to a hospital, where they died on Tuesday evening.
The suspect was also shot and died at the scene, he highlighted.
More details about the exact sequence of events were not precise. Meyer said that a gun was recovered at the scene near the suspect.
“It’s extremely early in the investigation, so we don’t have all the facts yet,” Meyer said.
There did not appear to be a stabbing, he outlined. The investigators were interviewing a woman believed to be the suspect’s girlfriend.
The city stated in a statement that the officers “immediately took gunfire upon arrival.”
The officers who were killed and the suspect were not immediately identified. One of the slain officers was described as a veteran with at least 22 years of experience, and the other was said to be a new officer with less than a year on the job.
“They were good men,” said El Monte Capt. Ben Lowry, the acting chief of police.
El Monte has its own police department, but the investigation into the deadly encounter, which involves shootings involving police, is being headed by the sheriff’s department.
