UPDATED FRIDAY, 11:32AM | More information on the deputy-involved shooting in Long Beach: the victim who was shot by Sheriff’s deputies has been identified as 28 year-old Juan Perales, who deputies fired at because he appeared to be reaching for what they feared was a gun, said Deputy Kim Mannatt.
Perales had refused to stop when deputies initially tried to stop his car and when they approached the vehicle at a stoplight, Perales opened the driver’s side foor and appeared to be reaching for something behind him in the vehicle. Fearing that Perales was arming himself with a gun, both deputies shot at Perales, who was hit by gunfire.
He was transported to a local hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. Neither weapons nor narcotics were found in the vehicle, Mannatt said, though Perales was cited for several traffic violations.
The original story is below…
One man is dead and another wounded as the result of two separate, yet nearly simultaneous deputy-involved shootings in Carson and Long Beach on Wednesday evening.
It was unclear what led to the West Long Beach shooting, which occurred at 5:33PM in the 1400 block of North Santa Fe Avenue near Anaheim Street. Witnessess on scene said that undercover sheriff’s deputies appeared to have been following the older model Ford Ranger when the male driver got into a confrontation with them.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has not released the identity of the suspect or his condition.
Less than half-an-hour later, at 5:57PM, another shooting involving LASD deputies occurred on South Figueroa near the Carson Town Center. Though it is also unclear what led to this shooting, the suspect, whose name and age have not been released, was driving an RV that ran into a nearby church during the confrontation. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
No deputies were injured in either confrontation said Deputy Don Walker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau.
Few other details were available about these two incidents Thursday morning. We will update this story as we receive information.