On Monday afternoon, a Los Angeles patrol officer was shot in the back while on patrol, but fortunately body armor saved his life. After the police investigated overnight and determined the identity of the suspect, they did not expect that the suspect had been arrested in San Diego by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) for drunk driving and possession of weapons.
Los Angeles County Police Commissioner Robert Luna said at a press conference Tuesday morning that the suspect was Raymundo Duran, 47, a gang member with a long criminal history.
The incident happened at around 2:45 p.m. on Monday, at the junction of Barranca St and North Garvey Ave in West Covina, near the Chinese neighborhood of Los Angeles, a police officer patrolling on a motorcycle was waiting for a red light at the intersection when he suddenly came into a sneak attack, was hit in the back by a bullet, and fell down on the spot.
Fortunately, he was wearing body armor and could still speak, immediately calling for help by radio.
A large number of police officers immediately arrived at the scene to investigate. According to Los Angeles County Police Commissioner Luna, the suspect was identified as Raymundo Duran, 47, after obtaining surveillance footage.
And just as the Los Angeles police were about to hunt down Duran, they found that he was already being held in a prison in San Diego. It turned out that he was stopped by CHP police officers after shooting police officers that afternoon, all the way south along Highway 5, and recklessly driving. Police found him driving drunk and illegally possessing a weapon, arrested and imprisoned him in San Diego Penitentiary.
The Los Angeles police immediately sent someone to San Diego to interrogate Duran and confirmed that he was the suspect in the assault on the police.
According to Luna, based on information gathered so far, Duran is from the Los Angeles County area and has a long criminal history and is a gang member, which he described as "worrying and disturbing."
"We want to take into account that he has a very violent criminal history when we open the case [for the prosecution], and based on his criminal record, he doesn't have the right to own a firearm, but he does," Luna said. ”
As for the injured policeman, according to Luna, the injured officer is Samuel Aispuro, 43, who has been in the police for more than 19 years and has two children, aged 4 and 2.
At the moment, Espro's condition has stabilized and he has also been discharged from the hospital, "physically, he does have obvious injuries, but as one would expect, the body armor protects him." Luna said.