Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- A gun battle wounded an undercover policeman Saturday in the same South Los Angeles neighborhood where, hours earlier, bullets felled the first LAPD officer to be fatally shot on duty since 1998.
The undercover officer’s right forearm was grazed by a bullet as he and his partners tried to break up a gunfight that erupted around 1 a.m. outside a party, Officer Don Cox said.
They had staked out the gathering to seek a murder suspect when a disturbance broke out.
“People spilled onto the street, including two armed suspects, who shot into the crowd,” Cox said.
The officers traded shots with the suspects, killing one of the men, while the second was arrested. Their names were not immediately released.
Cox said the wounded officer was treated at the scene.
As for the murder suspect, “he’s still out there being looked for. He was not involved in the shooting,” Cox said.
Police were still searching for the handgun used to kill Officer Ricardo Lizarraga on Friday in the same area.
Flags flew at half-staff over the state Capitol Saturday in memory of Lizarraga, 30, of Los Angeles, and colleagues praised the 2 1/2-year veteran during a press conference at downtown police headquarters.
“Outstanding guy, developing into an outstanding officer. Just an easygoing, almost a gentle giant,” said Capt. Fabian Lizarraga, who is no relation to the officer.
Gunshots have been fired at officers eight times since the beginning of the year. There were about 40 incidents last year, with two police officers wounded.
Lizarraga was shot twice in the abdomen below his bulletproof vest at about 1 p.m. Friday as he tried to search a domestic violence suspect.
Police said a woman flagged down a passing patrol car and asked the officers to remove her abusive boyfriend from her apartment. When they tried to pat down the man, he fled to a back bedroom and returned with a gun, then opened fire.
Lizarraga was hit. His partner, Officer Joel Ruiz, fired back but apparently didn’t hit the gunman, who fled.
A parolee and reputed gang member was arrested hours later after a manhunt involving about 300 police officers.
Kenrick William Johnson, 32, has a 16-year criminal history that includes convictions for robbery, arson, drug dealing and domestic violence, police said.
“He’s unfortunately maybe the poster boy for what’s wrong with this city. There’s too many like him on the streets of the city,” Chief William Bratton said.
Funeral services for Lizarraga were pending. A candlelight memorial service was planned Monday at the Newton station.
It was the first fatal shooting of an on-duty LAPD officer since 1998, when three officers died: Brian Brown, Filbert Cuesta and Steven Gajda.
Brown, 27, was killed in his patrol car after chasing a suspect in a drive-by shooting murder. The attacker was killed by other officers.
Cuesta, 26, was shot as he sat in his patrol car in the Crenshaw area. Last year, an appeals court ordered a new trial for the gang member convicted of killing him.
Gajda, 29, was killed during a struggle with a murder suspect in Boyle Heights. The gunman, a gang member, was killed by other officers.