Long Beach Police Department Deputy Chief William Blair addressed the media this afternoon with updates on two officer-involved shootings that occured yesterday afternoon and just after midnight. We will have full updates along with video shortly.
In the first incident, three suspects were witnessed shooting at a victim (who was unharmed) by Long Beach Police Department officers who were in Compton on an unrelated investigation. They gave chase and were shot at by the suspects, who fled onto the 710 South and exited on Willow Street. A shootout occured on the off-ramp and all three suspects were hit. One has been pronounced dead, while the other two are in critical condition in nearby hospitals.
A detective was struck in the arm, and Blair suggested that he may have been hit by friendly fire. That detective was released from the hospital last night.
“We are not certain on that yet,” Blair said. “However based on the preliminary information the detectives have, it would appear that one of our own officers was responsible for the injury to the other officer.”
In the other incident, which occured on 2nd Street in Belmont Shore just after midnight, a suspect who was witnessed smashing business store windows was detained by witnesses until an officer arrived. Blair made it a point to characterize the officer as being “substantially smaller” than the suspect, who Blair classified at about 5’9″ in height and over 300 pounds in weight. The suspect refused arrest and gained control of the officer’s baton, at which time the officer shot the suspect. He is now in critical but stable condition.
“The Department is absolutely committed to dealing with violent crime in the city of Long Beach,” Blair said. “We are relentless in the follow-up that we have when it comes to handling criminal cases that involve violence, and we have had a greater degree of armed encounters this year because we have had more armed suspects that we’ve faced.”
It’s worth noting that the Police Department does not normally call press conferences following violent incidents, and that the only new information revealed was that one suspect had been pronounced dead and the officer who was shot was likely hit by friendly fire. The LBPD has now been involved in nine officer-involved shootings since the beginning of 2009.
“A majority of the circumstances that we’ve had this year have all involved armed suspects, which for us is above what we have handled in the past,” Blair said. “I think we are seeing something that is indicative of a nationwide trend. More armed violence.”
Deputy Chief Blair said that the officers involved will likely be given paid days off, as is typical in this situation.
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor