Suspect dead after allegedly shooting 3 LAPD officers in Lincoln Heights

Three Los Angeles Police Department officers were shot Wednesday night and a suspect was dead following a confrontation in the city’s Lincoln Heights neighborhood, police officials said.

The incident occurred around 6 p.m. on North Broadway at Mission Road. All three officers were expected to survive.

Officers with the Hollenbeck station were called around 3:50 p.m. to the 3800 block of Broadway on Wednesday afternoon to search for a parolee at large, LAPD Assistant Chief Al Labrada said Wednesday night at a news conference held outside L.A. County-USC Medical Center.

Officers found the suspect, who they said refused to comply with commands, and a K-9 unit was requested from the Metropolitan Division.

Officers used gas on the suspect, who still did not comply with their commands, Labrada said.

“At one point during the search,� he said, “the suspect exited and fired at the officers, wounding three ... who are now listed in stable condition here just behind me.�

All of the officers who were shot were part of the Metropolitan Division’s K-9 unit.

After they were hit, other officers pulled them from the line of fire, law enforcement sources said. They were taken to the hospital by ambulances.

One officer was shot in the arm, another in the leg and a third was hit in the torso but his body armor likely deflected the round leaving him with shrapnel injuries, according to law enforcement sources.

Labrada said all three of the officers were able to speak and that their families were at the hospital.

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At some point during the incident, an unknown number of officers fired at the suspect, Labrada said.

The suspect was confirmed dead Wednesday night by police officials several hours after the officers were shot. He was identified by authorities on Thursday as Jonathan Magana.

The cause and manner of his death were not disclosed.

The LAPD’s force investigation division is investigating the shooting by police, Labrada said, while the Robbery-Homicide Division is investigating the shooting that injured the officers.

“I deeply appreciate their service, and let them know that their city stands with them,� Mayor Karen Bass said at the news conference. “And I very much look forward to their recovery. My heart goes out to the officers’ families who tonight got the phone call, or the knock on the door, that they dread every day that their loved ones go on duty.�

Magana had a lengthy criminal record and in January was charged with battery on a police officer and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person in connection with an incident late last year, according to court records and law enforcement sources.

In February 2020, Magana was convicted of two felony counts of robbery connected to incidents that occurred in 2019. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison for the first count and a year in county jail for the second count. In 2014, he was convicted for selling methamphetamines.

In the aftermath of the shooting, officers, including those in full tactical gear, swarmed the Lincoln Heights site, where blockades had been erected.

A helicopter was broadcasting to residents to remain inside and lock their doors. A special weapons and tactics team with armored vehicles arrived at the scene shortly before 8 p.m.

LAPD Chief Michel Moore said on Twitter that he was monitoring the night’s events.

Sets of drones and helicopters swirled around an empty Lincoln Park Recreation Center as officers shut down parts of Valley Boulevard near the active crime scene.

A handful of joggers still ran and worked out in sweats near a children’s playground that was closed for remodeling.

One runner said she was turned around by police and told to head to the easternmost end of the park.

Lincoln Heights resident Juan Valdivia, 37, cut short his walk around the park with his 7-year-old beagle, Lucy.

“All the noise from the choppers was bothering her, so we’re going to head back home,� Valdivia said. “There’s a lot of action tonight. A lot of noise.�