A man wanted on suspicion of killing a family member and injuring two others in a shooting this weekend in Los Angeles was fatally shot by police on Tuesday morning on the edge of a freeway, law enforcement officials said.
Details of the encounter on Freeway 105 in Paramount remained unclear late Tuesday, despite the incident having responded from at least three law enforcement agencies.
The California Highway Patrol – which led the investigation into the shooting – made a brief statement Tuesday night, with few details, saying that a man allegedly wanted for murder was shot dead by police.
The CHP did not identify the man and did not want to say how many officers opened fire or whether it was through CHP officers. The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said at least one of his deputies opened fire, but a spokeswoman said she didn’t know if that deputy was alone in the shooting.
Los Angeles police identified the man who was shot as Jesse Medrano, 35, and said he was the suspect in a triple shooting Sunday in Green Meadows that killed one man and seriously injured a man and a woman.
The LAPD said all three victims were related to Medrano and the shooting was the result of a family dispute. The ministry did not want to indicate how the parties were connected. The LAPD identified the man who died in the shooting as Ruben Marrufo, 61, and the injured as a 51-year-old man who was in serious condition on Tuesday and a 50-year-old woman who was in critical condition found.
The LAPD alleged Medrano stole a vehicle after shooting his relatives; the department described him on Monday as “armed and dangerous”.
The CHP said its LA communications center received a report shortly before 7:00 a.m. Tuesday of a disabled vehicle on the side of the 105 freeway heading west near the exit of the 710 freeway in Lynwood, and a responding officer found that the vehicle may have been stolen and that the man in it, allegedly Medrano, was wanted.
CHP officers from multiple areas and the LA County Sheriff’s Deputies went to the scene “to help,” and the shooting occurred after Medrano got out of the vehicle, the CHP said.
Pictures of the scene, captured by a Fox 11 helicopter, appeared to show a man with a gun standing on the side of the road across from a cluster of police vehicles that officers were using as cover.
The CHP did not say whether Medrano was armed or whether he had exchanged shots with the police. It was also not stated whether officers were injured in the incident.
Medrano was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The highway was closed for much of Tuesday in the area where the gunfire took place as part of an investigation.
Comments are closed.