Two police officers in Los Angeles remain hospitalized after being shot in an “ambush,” police officials told BBC News.
What’s going on?
New video footage shows an attacker approaching a police car, opening fire on two police officers and then running away.
The two officers — one male and one female — were critically injured from the attack. They were out of surgery as of Sunday.
- “It looks like they’re going to be able to recover,” Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Sunday afternoon. “We’ll see what the long-term impact is. We don’t know that yet, but they survived the worst.”
- “This is just a somber reminder that this is a dangerous job, and actions and words have consequences. Our job does not get any easier because people do not like law enforcement,” Villanueva said. “It pisses me off, it dismays me at the same time. There’s no pretty way to say it.”
The suspect remains at large. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has announced a $100,000 reward for any information on the suspect’s arrest, according to CNN.
Protesters blocked the entrance to the emergency room where the officers were being treated, BBC News reports. They also shouted anti-police slogans at the time. Two people were arrested at the scene.
What were the reactions?
President Donald Trump condemned the shooting while speaking with supporters in Las Vegas on Sunday, according to the New York Post.
- “When we find that person we got to get much faster with our courts, and we got to get much tougher with our sentencing.”
- Trump tweeted on Sunday: “If they die, fast trial death penalty for the killer. Only way to stop this!”
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden also condemned the shooting in a tweet on Sunday, The Washington Post reports.
- “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.”