Local News in Brief : Officer, Store Clerk Hurt in Shoot-Out

A plainclothes officer and the clerk of an Inglewood adult bookstore were wounded in a shoot-out inside the shop after the clerk shot and wounded a customer whose car he had allegedly burglarized, authorities said Tuesday.

Officer Steve Gentry, 29, was in serious condition at Centinela Hospital Medical Center after surgery in which he lost a kidney, Sgt. Harold Moret said.

The clerk at the Adult Bookstore on Hawthorne Boulevard, Jose Garcilazo, 27, was in good condition at the jail ward at County-USC Medical Center, where he was booked on two counts of attempted murder.

The incident began about 10:30 p.m. Monday when customer Kenard Lipscomb, 24, of Gardena, found that his car, which was parked behind the shop, had been burglarized, Moret said.

Lipscomb confronted Garcilazo, who was in another car nearby, and Garcilazo opened fire, hitting Lipscomb in the leg, arm and shoulder, Moret said.

Lipscomb, now in serious conditions at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, ran several blocks and asked a uniformed police sergeant for help.

The sergeant called an ambulance and sent two plainclothes officers to investigate.

“They went into the store and the suspect immediately whirled on them and started firing,” Sgt. Dan Milchovich said.