Alleged LAPD station shooter had 2nd gun, ammo in car, police say

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An officer stands by a cache of weapons that were found at the home of Daniel Yealu, the man accused of shooting one officer in the lobby of a police station. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Officer Ricky Brown puts up red tape at the entrance to an LAPD station in Mid-City where an officer was shot Monday night in the lobby. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles Police Officer Len Lai stands on yellow tape as an emergency response truck leaves an LAPD station in Mid-City L.A. where an officer was shot Monday night. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles Police Officer Ricky Brown stands in front of an LAPD station in Mid-City where an officer was shot in the lobby Monday night. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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A uniform with bullet holes that belonged to an officer who was shot in the lobby of a station on Venice Boulevard. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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LAPD Chief Charlie Beck speaks to the media about the condition of the injured officer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Monday night. “He is in great spirits,” Beck said. He described the officer as a “remarkable young man” who was “very, very lucky.” (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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An ambulance, rear, that carried one of the shooting victims sits outside the emergency entrance to Cedars-Sinai Hospital on Monday. A squad car that accompanied the ambulance is in the foreground. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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An LAPD officer stands guard at La Brea Avenue and Venice Boulevard, about a block from the station where the shooting occurred. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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The shooting was reported about 8:30 p.m. The suspect was critically wounded. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Investigators are trying to piece together how the violence unfolded, including how the gunman got to the station. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

By Joseph Serna, Samantha Schaefer and Hailey Branson-Potts

April 8, 2014 8:23 AM PT

A gunman who allegedly walked into a Mid-City Los Angeles police station Monday night and opened fire with a handgun, injuring one officer, had a rifle and ammunition stored in his car, officials said.

The unidentified suspect walked into the LAPD Wilshire Division on Venice Boulevard near South La Brea Avenue at about 8:30 p.m. and engaged two officers in brief conversation before pulling out a handgun and opening fire, hitting one of them multiple times, police said.

Despite earlier reports, LAPD Officer Bruce Borihanh said Tuesday that the injured officer was not wearing a ballistic vest when he was hit.

It was not immediately clear how many times the officer was hit. Cmdr. Dennis Kato has said that one round went through the officer’s left arm. The officer was expected to survive after being treated at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center.

The suspect was wounded after the two officers returned the gunfire and remained in critical condition Tuesday.

Police did not release the wounded officer’s name but did say he was a seven-year veteran. The other officer involved in the shooting has been on the force for four years.

Meanwhile, detectives continued Tuesday to investigate a possible motive for the shooting. The suspect was believed to have said something about having a complaint prior to the shooting, but police officials have divulged little more.

A bomb squad that was at the station checked a vehicle that may have belonged to the shooter immediately after the incident, which occurred as a community meeting with about 35 people was underway in a room near the lobby, police said.

Daphne Brogdon, a member of the Olympic Park Neighborhood Council, was at the group’s monthly meeting inside the station’s West Bureau community room when the gunfire broke out.

After the shots began, Brogdon said she jumped up, ran to a lectern and dived beneath it, trying to shield herself.

“I hid, and everyone else just hit the ground,” she said. “Everyone was trying to be really quiet, and the shots continued.”