Los Angeles police on Wednesday released videos of an officer-involved shooting that occurred in November after two teenagers, one of them a minor, allegedly shot and injured a girl in Torrance before firing at police.
Jose Vargas appears in a photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department on Dec. 26, 2018.
The suspects, 18-year-old Jose Vargas of Los Angeles and a 17-year-old boy whose name was not released, survived after police shot them, LAPD said. They’re both believed to be gang members.
According to the agency, officers patrolling the area of the Normandale Recreation Center around 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 11 were driving south on Halldale Avenue when they heard gunshots at the facility.
Vargas and the 17-year-old then allegedly started shooting at police. Surveillance video released by LAPD shows two individuals apparently running from the rec center toward the officers’ patrol vehicle.
Although none of the officers were struck, the hood of the car was hit in the gunfire, the Police Department said.
LAPD said officers fired back and hit Vargas, who’s seen in police body cam dropping to the ground.
According to LAPD, the 18-year-old sustained gunshot wounds in the right flank and right hip area. Officers took him into custody that night.
Officials said they located two victims behind the rec center. One of them, a girl, had a gunshot wound in the leg, the Police Department said. The agency did not provide further details about her condition.
A week later, investigators detained the 17-year-old after learning that he was hospitalized with a gunshot wound, LAPD said. He had run away from the scene after being shot by police in the upper back the night of the incident, the agency added. LAPD said it has not determined how he got to the hospital.
Police said they arrested the boy, also a Los Angeles resident, on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a firearm and shooting into an occupied vehicle.
The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office filed four counts of attempted murder and four counts of assault with a firearm against Vargas three days after the shooting, according to LAPD.
Detectives described both suspects as Harbor City gang members with no criminal history.
The case remained under investigation.
Authorities provided no further details.
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Source: “Los Angeles” – Google News