Suspect taken into custody after shootout that left 2 LAPD officers injured

Two Los Angeles police officers were wounded and a suspect was taken into custody Friday night after a shootout that erupted in South L.A. while officers were investigating a possible robbery, authorities said.

The incident occurred around 9 p.m. Friday when the two officers from LAPD’s Southeast Division responded to a report of a robbery in the 9200 block of Central Avenue, according to police.

At some point during the ensuing encounter, the officers exchanged fire with an armed suspect, who then fled the area, police said. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the suspect was struck.

A radio call for help brought a massive police response — including officers from neighboring divisions to the scene — which sits on the border of Florence-Firestone, an unincorporated neighborhood north of Watts. Officers with police K9s searched the area late into the night; the suspect was found and arrested after several hours, police said.

The two unnamed officers were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police did not disclose where they were hit, but a law enforcement source told The Times that preliminary information suggests that one of the officers suffered a graze wound to the leg, while the other was struck in the hand by shrapnel.

Both officers were conscious and talking when they arrived at the hospital, a law enforcement source told The Times on Friday. They were released from the hospital Saturday morning.

L.A. police records show that LAPD officers have opened fire 24 times so far this year, compared with 32 in the same time period in 2023.

According to a recent crime briefing by LAPD interim Chief Dominic Choi, the Southeast area is one of several police divisions in the city to see an increase in robberies.

A Southeast officer was wounded in another police shootout in the division area in July, during which a man allegedly opened fire on a police squad with a machine gun. The man was later taken into custody and faces an attempted murder charge.