Man barricaded in Willowbrook home found dead by SWAT team
A man who shot two Los Angeles police officers and holed himself up in a Willowbrook home is dead, police said Wednesday.
The man -- who was not immediately identified -- was found dead Wednesday by SWAT officers who entered the home in the 2200 block of East 117th Street after having surrounded the home for more than 13 hours.
It was not immediately clear if the suspect was killed in the initial gun battle with police or died during the subsequent standoff.
The gunman was in the attic above the kitchen while police ordered people to leave the home about 7 p.m. Tuesday, LAPD Sgt. Albert Gonzalez said. It was unclear how many people were told to leave or who they were.
When an LAPD gang officer peered into the attic, he was shot. The officer was wounded in the cheek and neck and underwent surgery overnight, officials said.
The officer was in stable condition in an intensive-care unit, Gonzalez said. A county probation officer also was wounded.
The officers were part of a unit conducting a parole-probation search of the home in an area patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Police were leaving the property after searching for a woman there when they smelled marijuana and decided to investigate, KTLA-TV reported.
Officers spoke with people inside the home and learned some were violating parole by being around the drug, according to KTLA.
The shooting began soon after, with at least five officers exchanging gunfire with the man as rounds ripped through the ceiling and floor, police said.
“He has shown no regard for human life by shooting at our officers,” LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said of the gunman.
About 7 a.m. Wednesday, police fired tear gas into the home when they failed to successfully communicate with the shooter. Police let the gas clear Wednesday morning before deciding to go in after the suspect.
“They’ve tried to make contact with him telephonically,” Gonzalez told KTLA early Wednesday. “They have equipment such as a bear cat, smoke that can be utilized to try to encourage the suspect to give up.”
Officers evacuated residents from the area Tuesday night as police with high-powered rifles maintained positions outside the home.
Neighbors have been sitting in buses waiting for the standoff to conclude ever since, Gonzalez said.
The gun battle followed an ambush early Tuesday during which an attacker shot at two LAPD undercover detectives outside the Wilshire station in Mid-City.
That shooting sparked a daylong manhunt in which officers searched unsuccessfully for the attacker.
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