UPDATE 4:30pm | Long Beach authorities lowered containers of tear gas into thick brush underneath the 405 Freeway at the Woodruff Avenue overpass to force out a suspect and take him into custody, according to Officer Israel Ramirez.
After creating a perimeter of several blocks where they believed the suspect was located, authorities tightened and narrowed their search until they came to the brush. Officer Ramirez would not go so far as to say that they knew the suspect was there, but containers of tear gas were lowered into the brush and the suspect – an adult black male – emerged and was arrested, Ramirez said.
A brush fire started because the gas containers emit sparks. Ramirez said that police knew a fire was possible and firefighters were on hand to quickly extinguish the flame.
The suspect is one of three that were believed to have been involved in a Laguna Hills bank robbery earlier this morning. Their white Chevrolet Suburban or Tahoe was stopped near the Woodruff exit by a California Highway Patrol officer, and an officer-involved shooting occurred. One suspect fled on foot and the other two fled the scene in the Chevy. The car is still at large, according to the CHP.
UPDATE 2:15pm | Police have apparently arrested the suspect who fled on foot in the Woodruff/Willow neighborhood. CHP says three suspects were originally sought, so two more remain at large. They may be traveling in a white Chevrolet Suburban or Tahoe with bullet holes in the doors. More information coming…
UPDATE 1:00pm | New details have emerged after speaking with California Highway Patrol spokesperson officer Denise Quesada.
Three suspects remain at large after a bank robbery in Laguna Hills. Their vehicle was stopped northbound on the 405 freeway at the Woodruff exit in Long Beach, where an officer-involved shooting occurred. The CHP officer reported that the vehicle has bullet holes in the doors and so it is safe to assume that shots were fired by the officer. Whether the suspects also fired has not yet been determined, Quesada said.
One suspect, an adult black male, fled on foot and remains at large. CHP and LBPD officers have set up a perimeter in the east Long Beach neighborhood to search for him.
The vehicle in question sped off with two suspects inside (one black male, one black female) is still at large. It is described as a white Chevrolet Tahoe or Suburban.
Quesada confirmed that some witnesses have reported seeing the suspect on foot near the Carson exit at the 605 Freeway, perhaps in Hawaiian Gardens while other reports have said that the suspect is in Cypress. Officers are still trying to determine which reports are true and currently advise residents to lock their doors.
UPDATE 11:25am | The SWAT team has been activated as authorities continue their search. ABC Channel 7 is reporting that the suspects led officers on a chase stemming from San Diego up the 405 Freeway. One suspect bailed from the car near the 605 Freeway intersection while the other two fled near the Woodruff exit in Long Beach. Police are advising east Long Beach residents to be on alert and lock their doors and windows.
11:10am | Long Beach authorities are assisting the California Highway Patrol in pursuing possibly armed and dangerous suspects who fled a routine traffic stop near the Willow/Woodruff exit on the 405 Freeway on Thursday morning.
The suspects, possibly three of them, fled into east Long Beach neighborhoods and traffic barricades have been set up and helicopters are currently being used to locate them. There are major traffic delays on the 405 and 605 freeways.
Some reports from sources near the scene said that shots had been fired, but LBPD spokesperson Sgt. Dina Zapalski could not confirm those rumors, saying that LBPD officers did not fire. Nearby Millikan High School has been locked down.
The Press-Telegram is reporting that Stanford Middle School and both Emerson and Prisk elementary schools have also been locked down. The incident may have stemmed from a previous officer-involved shooting, they say.
More information to come…