After an early morning pursuit following a brazen armed robbery by three men at a Rite-Aid in Bixby Knolls Wednesday, Long Beach Police Department officers exchanged fire with two of the suspects, killing one and wounding the other. A neighborhood near the robbery was blocked off for most of the morning while police canvassed the area looking for the third suspect. He is still at large.
On Wednesday morning at around 1AM, the Long Beach Police responded to a robbery call at the Rite-Aid on Atlantic Ave. and San Antonio Dr. According to police, when officers arrived on the scene, they witnessed a suspicious vehicle in a nearby alley and began following it. When the car—described as a grey Toyota Camry—sped off, a pursuit was initiated and continued until the suspect’s vehicle hit a parked car in the area of Cerritos Ave. and La Dera Drive.
One suspect fled on foot into the neighborhood and when police confronted the other two, an officer-involved shooting occured.
“Gunfire was heard by residents and officers, and pursuing officers believed they were being fired upon by the suspects,” said Nancy Pratt with the LBPD. “When investigators began combing the crime scene, they did locate shell casings along the path the suspects had driven, and one handgun was also located at the scene of the officer involved shooting.”
One suspect was pronounced dead at the scene and the other was struck in the lower body and was transported to a local hospital where he was in stable condition as of Wednesday night.
A perimeter surrounding the crime scene was also established from San Antonio Dr. to Carson St. and from Orange Ave. to California Ave. in order to search for the outstanding suspect, but despite efforts from K-9 units and the Department’s helicopter, he was not located and the perimeter was broken down at 1PM Wednesday.
Police have also determined that in addition to stealing money from the Rite-Aid store, the suspects also held up a woman in the parking lot outside the store and took her purse.
“There were a lot of interesting dynamics involved with this one,” says Sgt. Aaron Eaton with the LBPD. “There were two crime scenes, a death that involved the coroner and an officer-involved shooting so the L.A. district attorney was here. The process takes a bit of time because more people are involved.”
The remaining suspect is described as black, in his 20s, with a medium height and a thin build, and was last seen wearing a long sleeve white shirt, dark colored camouflage shorts with a stripe at the bottom. He should be considered armed and dangerous.
Anyone who may have information regarding this incident is urged to call Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives Hugo Cortez and Roger Zottneck at (562) 570-7244. Anonymous tips may be submitted via text or web by visiting www.tipsoft.com.