Officers in police vehicles blocked in the white Jeep Cherokee around 4 a.m. near Raymond Avenue, and the suspect was shot by police at least once after allegedly opening fire on officers. The name of the suspect, who was in his late 40s or early 50s, was withheld, pending notification of his relatives.
A motive is unclear and the shootings — which occurred in the span of about 30 minutes just miles apart — appeared to be random in nature, according to Lt. Raul Jovel of the Los Angeles Police Department.
The suspect shot three men, two fatally, early Tuesday morning, Jovel said.
“These appear to be random acts of violence … we have no idea what precipitated this,” Jovel said at a news conference near where the pursuit ended. “We’ll be going back to the suspect’s home, talking to family members, trying to figure out what led to these acts of violence.”
The terrifying shooting rampage began around 1 a.m., when a man was shot and wounded in the downtown Los Angeles area, Jovel said. The wounded man, who is expected to survive, gave authorities a description of the suspect’s vehicle, Jovel said.
About 25 minutes later, a man was shot and killed while sitting in his car near Figueroa and 28th streets, according to Jovel. Family members told reporters at the scene that the victim, a 25-year-old newlywed, was in a drive-thru line at Starbucks with his wife, who wasn’t injured.
Surveillance video captured the suspect driving up to the side of the victim’s vehicle, a blue Mustang, and opening fire moments later. A woman believed to be the victim’s wife can be seen in the footage running for help.
“About 15, 20 minutes later, there was another male that was shot near the area of Seventh and Figueroa (streets),” Jovel said. That man died, Jovel said. A black SUV was found with bullet holes in the passenger and driver’s side windows. Additional information about the victim, only identified as a man who was driving an SUV, has not yet been released.
“The officers quickly discovered that it was the same shooting suspect description — a male in a white Cherokee,” Jovel said. “That information was immediately put out … to all patrol units.”
Patrolling officers saw the vehicle and began chasing it about 1:45 a.m., Jovel said.
The pursuit lasted nearly three hours, often at slow speeds, traveled along the 60 and 57 freeways before coming to an end on the westbound 91 Freeway near Raymond Avenue at about 3:25 a.m.
AIR7 HD was over the scene as the suspect’s vehicle was pinned between two L.A.P.D. BearCats — which is an armored vehicle used by the SWAT team. It appeared officers were deploying tear gas into the suspect’s vehicle around 4:45 a.m.
The suspect allegedly opened fire on officers, and authorities later said the suspect returned fire just before 5 a.m.
The scene remained active as of noon, and all westbound lanes of the 91 Freeway remained shut down during the investigation. It was unclear when the lanes would reopen.
A handgun was recovered at the scene, police say.
No officers were injured in the incident.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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