Two Deputies Shot In Compton Are Recovering, Says LASD

The two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies who were shot on Saturday are out of surgery. The victims were treated at a local hospital after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds in an ambush that took place in Compton on Saturday night.

“It looks like they’re going to be able to recover,” said LASD spokesperson Alex Villanueva at a community dialogue event on Sunday. “We’ll see what the long-term impact is. We don’t know that yet, but they survived the worst,” he added.

The shooting incident happened at the Metro Blue Line station at Willowbrook Avenue and Compton Boulevard around 7 p.m., just a short distance from the Compton sheriff’s station. The two deputies, one male and one female, were sitting in their patrol vehicle when a man clad in dark clothing walked up to them, approached the window on the passenger’s side and fired several times at close range.

A surveillance video of the shooting showed the gunman running off on foot after opening fire. The deputy then emerged from the passenger side and fell around on foot.

At a press conference on Saturday night, Villanueva described the shooting as a cowardly act. “The two deputies were doing their job, minding their own business, watching out for the safety of the people on the train,” he said. “To see somebody just walk up and start shooting on them. It pisses me off. It dismays be at the same time. There’s no pretty way to say it,” he added.

Police officers were not able to get a detailed description of the suspect other than the fact that he was a man. Officials also cautioned that since the surveillance video of the incident used a fisheye lens, the gunman’s height and weight might be slightly distorted from reality.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump condemned the shooting on Sunday while speaking to a group of Latino supporters in Las Vegas. “When we find that person, we got to get much faster with our courts, and we got to get much tougher with our sentencing,” he said.

His Democratic rival, Joe Biden also described the shooting as “absolutely unconscionable,” saying acts of lawlessness and violence against police officers are counterproductive to the pursuit of greater peace and justice in America.

The LASD announced on Sunday afternoon that a $100,000 reward would be given to anyone who could offer information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunman.