May 22, 2008 5:59 am US/Pacific
Shots Fired On LA County Sheriff's Helicopter
LOS ANGELES
Several people were arrested by a Sheriff's Department SWAT team near Carson on Thursday in connection with an incident in which a sheriff's helicopter responding to reports of a robbery was fired on and struck by two bullets.
The helicopter made a safe emergency landing at the sheriff's Carson Station following the shooting, which occurred around 11 p.m. Wednesday, and no one was hurt, said Sgt. Carol Rogers of the Carson Station.
Thursday morning, helmeted SWAT deputies in green fatigues carried out raids near Carson, and residents of nearby homes were evacuated around 3:30 a.m., it was reported. Seven people were detained, according to the station.
At one point during the operation, SWAT officers searching for suspects in the shooting used a vehicle-mounted battering ram to crash into the garage of a home in the 1000 block of Milton Street in an unincorporated area near Carson, Channel 5 reported.
The helicopter "was up in the air" when a gunman fired at it several times late yesterday evening, prompting the pilot to make an unscheduled landing at the sheriff's Carson Station for inspection, Rogers said.
One bullet struck the belly of the chopper and another hit the tail area, but no one was hurt, she said.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
