Long Beach police fatally shoot suspected carjacker after foot chase

Long Beach police shot and killed a suspected carjacker Tuesday morning on the roof of an apartment building following two foot chases.

Deputy Police Chief Robert Luna said the incident started about 2:30 a.m. near Nebraska Avenue and 4th Street when police officers pulled over a 1990s four-door Mazda for a traffic violation. A man and two women were inside, police said.

During the stop, the man in his 20s got out of the car and led officers on a foot chase, eventually losing them. As police searched for him, other officers interviewed the two women. Police later determined he was wanted for a carjacking that occurred in Los Angeles. A warrant for his arrest described him as armed and dangerous, Luna said.

At one point, a second foot chase occurred when officers found the suspected carjacker. Luna said the chase took place over a city block.

“Yard to yard, fences over fences, jumping from rooftop to rooftop,” he said.

Officers tracked the man to an apartment building on Nebraska Avenue after a tenant on the third floor called police about a suspicious person outside his front door.

Police said the man climbed to the roof, where at about 4 a.m., he was shot.

A longtime resident named Wendy, 52, who declined to give her last name, said she heard a helicopter and saw several police cars speeding up and down the street when she looked out her window.

“They were coming in hordes,” she said, adding she tried to go back to sleep. “I was lying down when I heard pop, pop, pop.”

Authorities said the man, whose name was not released, died at the scene. His body remained on the roof of the building Tuesday morning as police investigated the incident.

Police did not say whether a weapon was recovered at the scene.

Fourth Street was closed to the public for several hours during the investigation from Walnut Avenue to Orange Avenue. The street is lined with apartment buildings, restaurants, stores and bars.

The incident marks the second fatal Long Beach police shooting in little more than a week.

ruben.vives@latimes.com