LOS ANGELES (AP) — An off-duty Los Angeles police officer was fatally shot in a shootout with several assailants who approached him in a neighborhood, authorities said Tuesday.
The shooting occurred shortly after 9 p.m. Monday in an unincorporated area of south Los Angeles County.
A black pickup truck approached the victim and several suspects got out, the county Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
“An argument ensued and an officer-involved shooting occurred. The pickup drove away in an unknown direction,” it said.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to scene and rushed the victim to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“Tonight Los Angeles grieves as we experience the loss of a young officer who was off duty with a companion and in a neighborhood looking to a bright future,” Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said outside the hospital.
“We are very limited as to how much information we have but we know that we need the community’s help,” he said. “But we also have every faith and confidence that we will identify the person or persons responsible for this terrible attack and this grievous loss.”
The officer’s body was transported from the hospital to the coroner’s office in a long procession before dawn Tuesday.
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