A $100,000 reward is being offered for information about a suspect who ambushed two Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies over the weekend, shooting them multiple times as they sat inside their police cruiser, according to reports.
There was no apparent motive for the attack Saturday in Compton.
The gunman remains on the run and has yet to be identified.
The wounded officers are alive and were listed in stable condition after undergoing emergency surgery at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, The Los Angeles Times reported. Both were struck in the head.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva called their survival “a double miracle.”
“These are real people doing a tough job,” Villanueva said, “and it just shows the dangers of the job, in the blink of an eye.”
»JUNE POLICE KILLING: Police reveal criminal activity before shooting of Hispanic security guard
News of the shooting quickly caught the attention of President Donald Trump, who denounced the shooting and on Sunday called for swift justice against the perpetrator.
“Animals that must be hit hard!” Trump said, later tweeting about the officers: “If they die, fast trial death penalty for the killer. Only way to stop this!”
Democratic nominee Joe Biden also called the shooting “cold-blooded.”
“This cold-blooded shooting is unconscionable and the perpetrator must be brought to justice,” he said on Twitter. “Acts of lawlessness and violence directed against police officers are unacceptable, outrageous, and entirely counterproductive to the pursuit of greater peace and justice in America - as are the actions of those who cheer such attacks on. Those who perpetrate these crimes must be brought to justice, and, if convicted, face the full brunt of the law.”
Police did not release the names of the victims, one of whom is a 31-year-old mother of a 6-year-old boy. The other victim is a 24-year-old man. Both attended the police academy together and were sworn in only 14 months ago, the Times reported.
The suspect was described as a dark-skinned man, between the age of 28 and 30, and wearing dark clothing.
Villanueva told the Times that detectives had been “working furiously overnight” to identify the shooter and were scouring the area to gather more surveillance video.
“There is no rhyme or reason to it; it is an act of a coward,” Villanueva said. “Obviously tensions were running high in the neighborhood with the deputy-involved shooting. But there is no nexus to it at this time. We are chasing all leads.”
Surveillance video shows a man in dark clothes approach the vehicle from behind. After walking up to the passenger-side door, the person points and fires, then quickly runs away. Seconds later, one of the deputies stumbles from the passenger-side door.
One of the wounded officers managed to call for help, muttering on his radio: “998 Compton Pax,” which is police code for a deputy-involved shooting, the Times reported.
“Just happened?” the dispatcher asked. “Compton Pax, deputies down,” the voice responded weakly. “Compton Pax 998.”
There is speculation the shooting could have been retaliatory -- it occurred as tensions continue to boil over between the L.A. Sheriff’s Department and the community about a recent spate of fatal police shootings.
Last week, L.A. detectives shot and killed a Compton man who allegedly fired at officers as they tried to serve a warrant, according to reports.
The killing of Dijon Kizzee, 29, who was stopped by officers for an unspecified code violation while riding a bicycle in Westmont on Aug. 31, has also sparked days of intense protests.
»RELATED: L.A. police shot Hispanic security guard 5 times in the back, autopsy finds
In June, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed Andres Guardado, an 18-year-old Hispanic security guard who was on his regular patrol at a California auto repair shop in Gardena.
A day earlier, officers on the same force shot and killed Terron Jammal Boone, a Black man identified as a suspect in a domestic assault and kidnapping.
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