Aug 20, 2008 8:21 am US/Pacific
Homicide Suspect Shot After Firing At Deputies
DOWNEY
A homicide suspect was hospitalized in critical but stable condition Wednesday after he was wounded in a running gunfight with sheriff's deputies during a surveillance operation in Downey, authorities said.
The shooting occurred in the 13200 block of Blodgett Avenue near Gardendale Street around 6:20 p.m. Tuesday, said Deputy Rick Pedroza of the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.
Deputies from the Major Crimes and Operation Safe Streets bureaus were keeping a homicide suspect under surveillance when they received information that he "was possibly not at the location" that was being watched, Pedroza said.
The deputies decided to try to talk to the people inside the residence but unexpectedly came into contact with the suspect in the driveway of the residence, he said.
The man turned toward the deputies, produced a gun and opened fire, Pedroza said. Fearing for their safety, the deputies fired several rounds at the suspect, who then jumped over a rear wall and ran onto an adjacent street, he said.
"Deputies who were holding the rear containment were confronted by the armed suspect, and a second deputy-involved shooting incident occurred," leaving the suspect wounded, he said.
The man, whose name was not released, was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in critical but stable condition, Pedroza said. Details of the homicide for which he was being sought were not immediately disclosed.
No deputies were hurt, Pedroza said.
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