A Los Angeles Police Department gang enforcement officer is in stable condition Sunday after being shot while patrolling the Exposition Park area and the suspect remains in custody, authorities said.
The shooting occurred at 3:47 p.m. Saturday at 39th Place and Western Avenue, at or near Martin Luther King Jr. Park, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Charles Miller told City News Service.
The officer and his partner were assigned to gang enforcement and spotted a suspect they wanted to question but he ran away, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell told reporters outside Dignity Health-California Hospital Medical Center.
The officers chased the fleeing suspect and he fired a gun at them, wounding one officer, McDonnell said. He was hospitalized and listed in serious but stable condition, McDonnell said. The wounds were not believed life-threatening.
It was unclear whether he was transported in a patrol vehicle or ambulance but an ambulance was observed at the scene.
The other gang enforcement officer returned fire, but the gunman was not hit, the chief said. He was arrested soon afterward. His name has not been released.
A gun was recovered at the scene, McDonnell said.
The suspect could be charged with attempted murder of a police officer.
The shooting remained under investigation.