Two plainclothes LAPD officers sitting in a car on Sunday evening were shot and wounded by two suspects who fired "like 20" rounds at them and who remain at large in a case surrounded by questions.
The incident took place not far from the location where Ezell Ford Jr., a mentally ill man, was killed last summer by police, setting off protests.
"There’s going to be several thorough interviews of the officers. But right now they believe they were the target," Los Angeles Police Department Detective Meghan Aguilar
told The Los Angeles Times.
Aguilar said the narcotics officers were sitting in an unmarked or undercover car on Broadway near 65th Street when two male assailants fired on them from a distance. The officers were grazed by bullets, and returned fire until the suspects ran off.
"I heard like 20 shots, and then a bunch of police sirens," said local man Junior Moore, 54, who was eating nearby at Hercules Burgers when the guns went off.
It remains unclear what motivated the shooters, but police said they detained a number of people who may have played a role or be key witnesses to the crime.
Anytime a police officer is fired upon, said Aguilar, there is a citywide response to track down the perpetrators — including K9 units and SWAT.