Off-Duty Los Angeles Officer Ismael Tamayo Arrested For Shooting A Fellow Officer

An off-duty police officer from Los Angeles was arrested on charge of attempted murder after allegedly shooting another officer who was on a camping trip near Apple Valley. The shooting incident happened after 1 a.m. on Sunday.

In a statement, the Los Angeles Police Department revealed that the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department received reports on Sunday midnight that a man had been shot in an unincorporated area of Apple Valley, about 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles in San Bernardino County.

When the police arrived, they found a wounded man along with two other uninjured men. The three of them were reportedly department employees, two were off-duty officers and one off-duty supervisor. San Bernardino sheriff’s deputies quickly airlifted the wounded male officer who was shot in his shoulder to a nearby hospital.

Ismael Tamayo, 44, who was in possession of a weapon at a time of his arrest, was arrested after the police determined that he was the one who shot the victim. He works in the department’s Newton Division and lives in Ontario, according to the LAPD and SBSD.

Tamayo is currently being held by the police on $1 million bail at the Adelanto Detention Facility in San Bernardino County on a charge of attempted murder. According to the police, he “has been relieved of his police powers pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigation.” He is scheduled to have a court appearance on Tuesday.

While the police are still investigating the motive behind the shooting, witnesses said the three officers had been camping, drinking, and shooting guns in the area when the incident occurred. “The events overnight culminating in the serious injury to our off-duty officer, apparently at the hands of another member of this department, give me great concern,” said LAPD Chief Michel Moore in a statement. “I spoke earlier this morning with San Bernardino Sheriff John McMahon, pledging our full support of their criminal investigation.”

The injured officer is now in stable condition and is expected to survive.