July 27, 2019 – In Breaking News – KTLA 5 News
A search for a shooter was underway Saturday morning after a Los Angeles police officer who had two years of experience with the force was fatally shot while off-duty in Lincoln Heights, authorities said.
Juan Jose Diaz died in the incident that happened around 1 a.m. near Avenue 26 and Humboldt Street, according to the Police Department.
He was last assigned to LAPD’s Professional Standards Bureau, which operates the agency’s internal affairs.
A group of young men had threatened the off-duty officer, his girlfriend and her two brothers at a taco stand, a law enforcement source told the Los Angeles Times.
One of the men, who claimed allegiance to a gang, told them the area was their territory and displayed a gun under his shirt, the source told the paper.
He then opened fire as the group entered their car to leave, fatally striking the officer and wounding one of the girlfriend’s brothers, according to the source.
(An off-duty Los Angeles police officer was killed in a shooting in the Eastside early Saturday, authorities said. Courtesy of KTLA 5 News, cohaiv amar and YouTube. Posted on July 27, 2019.)
LAPD, which has not publicly confirmed the circumstances surrounding the shooting, said a civilian just flagged down and alerted a motorcycle officer about the gunfire near Avenue 26 and Figueroa Street, Assistant Chief Beatrice Girmala announced in a news conference.
The officer discovered two victims, one of them an off-duty LAPD officer.
Diaz was pronounced dead while the other victim, who’s not an officer, was hospitalized to get treated, according to LAPD.
“We mourn the tragic loss of a young officer killed in an act of senseless violence and ask for our community’s support in finding his killer,” police Chief Michel Moore tweeted.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League urged the chief to use every resource “to ensure the coward and his accomplices who are responsible for this heinous act are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice.”
Continue reading… Gunman Sought After Off-Duty LAPD Officer Is Killed in Possibly Gang-Related Shooting at Lincoln Heights Taco Stand
Editor’s note: Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of LAPD officer Diaz, both blood and blue. Thank you for your bravery in serving the citizens of Los Angeles, with pride and distinction. You will not be forgotten.
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