A man opened fired in a Los Angeles police station on Monday night, wounding a police officer. The shooter was said to have access to assault weapons, one of which was in his car, officials said on Tuesday.
The man has been identified as 29-year-old Daniel C. Yealu. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said Tuesday that the suspect used a Glock pistol in his attack.
The wounded officer was shot at seven times and was rushed to the hospital, police said.
On Tuesday, Police officers displayed weapons and ammunition that were found during a search of Yealu’s home and car. The vehicle that had the automatic weapons in question was parked outside the LAPD Wilshire Division on Venice Boulevard when the shooting occurred about 8:30 pm.
“By the grace of God, the suspect did not come in with the assault weapons that he had access to, one of which I believe was in his vehicle,” Beck said.
One witness told The Times that the shooter had walked down a hall next to a room where more than 30 people were attending a neighborhood council meeting.
Daphne Brogdon, a member of the Olympic Park Neighborhood Council, said she dived under a lectern inside the station’s West Bureau community room when the gunfire broke out.
“I hid, and everyone else just hit the ground,” she said.
The two officers involved in the shooting returned fire and shot Yealu, while one of them was already wounded, police said. Yealu was in critical condition late Monday.
The officer that was shot was in stable condition and in “good spirits,” Chief Charlie Beck told reporters. The officer was thought to be wearing a bulletproof vest, but later police officers discovered that he was not wearing the vest, which makes his survival even more miraculous.
Police did not release the wounded officer’s name but did say he was a seven-year veteran. He is expected to survive after being treated at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center. The other officer involved in the shooting was a woman who has been on the force for a little more than four years.
One of the bullets that hit the officer struck a backup pistol he had in his pocket, sparing him from more serious injuries, Beck said.
It was “truly a miracle,” the chief added.
Detectives are continuing to investigate a possible motive for the shooting. Yealu was believed to have said something about having a complaint prior to the shooting, but not much more is known at this time.
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