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Calif. officer, 26, shot in the face during hours-long standoff

The shooting began when police responded to a dispute between two brothers, one armed with a handgun

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Arcadia Police Department (CA) Facebook

By Hunter Lee
The Whittier Daily News

ARCADIA, Calif. — A man was in custody after an hours-long barricade Wednesday night in Arcadia after a family dispute turned violent, leaving a police officer and two other people shot and injured.

The suspect was taken into custody just before 11 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Identifying information for the suspect was not immediately available other than him being a man in his 20s, authorities said.

Just after 11 p.m., the suspect was placed in an ambulance but information was not immediately available on if or how he was injured.

The immediate residences surrounding a home in the 2500 block of Greenfield Avenue were evacuated early in the evening, and people in several blocks around the area had been told to shelter in place, said Lt. Brett Bourgeous, spokesman for the Arcadia Police Department.

The shooting began around 5:40 p.m. when police responded to a dispute between two brothers at the home, one armed with a handgun, Bourgeous said. When Arcadia officers arrived, the armed man started shooting at the officers, striking one of them in the face, Bourgeous said.

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A family member was struck by gunfire during the shooting, and a third person was shot and injured, Bourgeous said. Information on the conditions of the injured officer and the two civilians was not immediately released, though he said the officer was receiving treatment.

The 26-year-old officer who was shot had been with the Arcadia Police Department for six months, with three total years of law enforcement experience, Bourgeous said.

A child was in the home at one point, but they were removed, Bourgeous said.

An emergency alert from Arcadia Police Department sent out around 6:50 p.m. told residents there was police activity and an investigation in the 2500 block of Greenfield Avenue.

“Shots have been fired. Stay away,” said the alert.

The suspect was reportedly armed with “multiple handguns,” Bourgeous said.

“Please give yourself up, we want this to resolve peacefully,” Bourgeous said during a news conference.

Ronnie Flores was in the area with his girlfriend on his way home from work when he noticed a large police presence at the scene, he said in an interview with RMG News. As Flores went over to see what was happening, he heard gunshots and saw an officer with a gunshot wound to the face being taken to an ambulance, he said.

He also saw a woman with a gunshot wound to the chest, Flores said.

“It was crazy, really crazy,” Flores said.

Arcadia resident Josie Stein, 67, thought there had been a crash along Santa Anita Avenue when she heard the commotion.

“There’s always people speeding down Santa Anita,” she said.

Walking over from her home along Woodruff Avenue, Stein said had never seen a police response like this in her city. Dozens of police and deputy patrol vehicles circled the area around the shooting and filled the parking lots of surrounding businesses.

Zack Wood, 30, was out for a walk Wednesday night, unable to sleep with all the commotion from helicopters circling the area and the large police presence just a street over from his home on Lee Avenue.

“It’s been going on for hours now,” Wood said. “Never seen anything like this here before.”

“I hope the guy comes out soon, without shooting anyone else,” he said.

Wood was not home when the incident began, but said he could later hear police attempting to negotiate with the suspect.The shooting scene is near Arcadia Golf Course.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s SWAT team had assisted with negotiations at the barricade situation, along with “numerous other” assisting police departments on scene, Bourgeous said.

(c)2022 The Whittier Daily News, Calif. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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