Crime & Safety

Long Beach Police Officer Shot

Update: A gang detective had stable vital signs this morning and was expected to survive a shooting at MacArthur Park, where another officer returned fire. Dragnet continues for two suspects.

A gang detective with the Long Beach police department was hospitalized with stable vital signs early Sunday after being shot about 11 p.m. in MacArthur Park, near Anaheim Street and Gundry Avenue. A dragnet for the gunman and a second male was underway in the area, which is East of Alamitos Avenue. 

The detective was sitting in a car with another detective when a gunman shot him once in the upper body. A  patrol officer in the area fired at the two fleeing suspects, said police Sgt. Rico Fernandez. Either the same patrol officer or another spotted a car that he saw the males speed away in and found it to have a bullet hole.

The hunt for the suspects was immediately launched and remained underway into the early morning, said Fernandez, a department spokesman who was at the shooting scene by 1 a.m.

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The gang detail detective, who was on assignment at MacArthur Park, at 1321 East Anaheim St., was expected to survive the shooting, Fernandez said. The park is east of Alamitos and Orange avenues.

The wounded officer was not immediately identified and details were still unfolding as the search for suspects progressed. But Fernandez said the gang detective was on assignment when he was shot between 10:45 and 11 p.m. Saturday. The LBPD described the wounded officer only as 30-years of age and a seven-year member of the department. 

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Another officer returned fire, but it was not clear if a suspect was wounded.

As the injured detective was rushed to a hospital and the surrounding neighborhood was "locked down," Fernandez said.  Whether the officer was shot at by more than one suspect and what led to the shooting, as well as suspect description, was not immediately released.

"We are currently searching for suspects," Fernandez said. "We have a very wide area covered here, large areas basically locked down, and the suspect or suspects are at large."

The LBPD asks that anyone with additional information on the incident to call Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives Terri Hubert and Peter Lackovic at (562) 570-7244.

Tips can be emailed or texted anonymously to the Long Beach Police Department at its website, www.longbeach.gov/police, or by visiting www.tipsoft.com and following the prompts.


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