UPDATED 4:43PM | LBPD has released an official statement on last night’s officer-involved shooting. The full account is below:
The female caller indicated that a male suspect who was not supposed to be at her residence was there and requested police assistance. Upon arrival, officers encountered an uncooperative male suspect with a dog. The dog, an unleashed pit-bull, was barking and acting aggressively toward officers and forced them to retreat from the front of the residence. The suspect refused to take control of the dog or place it inside the residence so the officers could conduct their investigation.
A female was seen inside the residence, an upper level duplex at the rear of the property, however, the male suspect and dog prevented officers from talking to her to determine the reason for her call to police. After several minutes, the male suspect and dog went inside the residence and then he refused to come outside. Officers determined the male suspect was at the location in violation of a domestic violence restraining order.
Officers eventually convinced the female to come outside. As the female was walking towards officers, the male opened the door and the dog ran down the flight of stairstowards officers. It is unknown if the male did this intentionally. Officers used an electronic control device in an attempt to control the dog, which was ineffective. Moments later, an officer involved shooting occurred, the dog was struck and retreated from officers. Officers requested Animal Care Services to assist.
Seeing that his dog had been shot, the suspect started down the stairs trying to get the female back inside while yelling at officers. To prevent him from taking the female back inside, an officer fired one less lethal round striking him in the chest. The suspect then stopped pursuing the female, and retreated back into the apartment. After negotiating with the suspect for approximately 30 minutes, he agreed to send his three small children outside. He eventually surrendered and was taken into custody without further incident.
The suspect is identified as 37-year-old Mark Phillips of Long Beach. He was booked for a restraining order violation and for obstruction, due to him interfering with the officers’ criminal investigation through his actions, along with the actions of his dog. He is being held at the Long Beach City Jail on $20,000 bail. Animal Care Services took possession of the injured dog and transported it from the scene to a veterinary hospital where it was euthanized for humane reasons.
ORIGINAL 3:27PM | Long Beach police officers shot a pitbull and took a man into custody Wednesday night after he allegedly barricaded himself inside an apartment complex.
According to police, officers responded to a domestic dispute call around 10:40PM to the 1900 block of San Francisco Avenue “regarding an unwelcome subject at a residence with a dog.”
“After officers arrived, an officer-involved shooting occurred and the dog was struck,” said Nancy Pratt of the Long Beach Police Departmnent. “The dog was transported for treatment by animal control.”
By 12:30AM, it was reported that the suspect was seen handcuffed in the back of a squad car. The condition of the animal was not made available.
Residents living in the area of South Wrigley said the apartment where the shooting took place is occupied by a woman and her three kids and that the suspect who was arrested is the woman’s boyfriend.
Witnesses reported that the pitbull was inside the apartment at the time of the original call, barking loudly through most of the ordeal, and that eight pistol shots were fired after the door was opened and the boyfriend refused to put the dog away. It is unclear if the dog was a perceived or actual threat to the officers.
Six police cars were seen on the block and San Francisco Ave. was closed until the early morning as officers began an investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
This story is developing. More information will be added as it is received.
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