Pomona, Calif. (KTLA) — A Pomona police officer who was shot by a barricaded suspect has died, and a second officer also injured during the unfolding incident is undergoing surgery, officials said Saturday.
Police responded the 1400 block of South Palomares Street about 9 p.m. Friday to a call about a reckless driver, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Captain Christopher Bergner told reporters Saturday morning.
Responding officers found the vehicle and a short pursuit ensued when the driver failed to stop. The driver then got out of the vehicle after crashing and ran into an apartment complex in the area. The man barricaded himself into a room inside an apartment and eventually shot through a door, wounding the two officers, Bergner said.
One of the officers died and the other is undergoing surgery. The second officer is expected to survive, Bergner said. Neither of the officers have been identified.
The shooter, who has not been identified, remains barricaded inside the apartment and the scene is active, the captain said. He noted that he could not release further details because the investigation is ongoing.
SWAT officers and crisis negotiators have been attempting to negotiate with the suspect to no avail. Bergner said investigators believe the gunman is alive. Flash bang grenades were also used to try and get the suspect out, video from the scene showed.
The apartment complex was evacuated except for the suspect and the scene is secure, Bergner said.
A crashed pickup was also at the scene and in an area cordoned off by police, but Bergner did not confirm if that is the vehicle the suspect was driving.
Police escorted the fallen officer’s body from Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office Saturday morning.
Amber Anaya, who lives near the scene, told KTLA that she lost her husband earlier this year and was worried about her children’s safety.
“I will not lose my children,” she said Friday night.
Several Southern California law enforcement agencies expressed their condolences to the Pomona Police Department Saturday morning.
