3rd LAPD Officer Injured In Lincoln Heights Shooting Released From Hospital

The third LAPD officer shot by a wanted parolee in Lincoln Heights last week has been released from the hospital, police said Sunday. Video posted by LAPD showed dozens of officers lined up on the street and sidewalk, saluting the officer as his vehicle left the hospital. The officers, all members of a K-9 dog-handling unit, were wounded Wednesday. Two were released on Thursday, a police statement said. The gunman, Jonathan Magana, 32, was found dead more than two hours after the shooting. He was on parole at the time of the shooting following a prison sentence for two counts of second-degree robbery, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It was not immediately clear if Magana was fatally shot by police or died of a self-inflicted wound after the shootout and lengthy standoff with police.

ABC 7

Parolee Who Shot 3 LAPD Officers In Lincoln Heights Was Wanted In Extortion Probe

The 32-year-old parolee who shot and injured three Los Angeles police officers before he was shot during a standoff in Lincoln Heights this week had been named a suspect in an extortion investigation, authorities said Friday, March 10. Los Angeles police also said they found two loaded handguns, including a ghost gun, in the area where Jonathan Magana had barricaded Wednesday afternoon. Magana fired at the officers after they deployed a chemical agent, police have said. Three officers were hospitalized, but two have since been released and the third remains stable. Details about the extortion probe were not provided in Friday’s announcement. The three officers who were shot were with the Metropolitan K-9 Division. Narcotics Enforcement Detail officers in plain clothes had been conducting surveillance on Magana around 4 p.m. when they briefly saw him walking in the area, police said. They established a perimeter after losing sight of him and brought in K-9 units.

Los Angeles Daily News

Man Opens Fire On California Police From Back Seat Of Patrol Vehicle

A 42-year-old man opened fire with a hidden gun from the back seat of a patrol vehicle just after his arrest, California police reported. Officers returned fire, injuring the man and setting off a standoff that lasted several hours before he surrendered Friday, March 10, the Ontario Police Department said in a news release. Christopher Urena of San Dimas faces charges including attempted murder of a police officer, the release said. Officers contacted Urena at 3:12 p.m. while investigating reports of a disabled vehicle and arrested him on a warrant, the release said. While in the back of a patrol vehicle, Urena pulled out a concealed handgun and shot at the officers, police said. Officers returned fire and Urena barricaded himself inside the vehicle for several hours before surrendering, the release said. He was taken to a hospital with a non-life-threatening injury, police said. No officers or bystanders were hurt.

Charlotte Observer

33-Year-Old Man Arrested For Fatally Stabbing His Mother In Northridge

A 33-year-old man was behind bars on Sunday after he was found to have fatally stabbed his mother in Northridge. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, a man walked into a Devonshire Division station at around 5:40 p.m. Friday evening, where he told officers that he believed he harmed his mother at their home. Upon investigation, officers sent to the 11000 block of Oakhurst Way, near Mariposa Bay Lane, found the suspect's mother suffering from multiple stab wounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene. She has been identified as 58-year-old Winnie Yong Gu. There was no additional information immediately available. 

CBS 2

Suspect Charged With Murder In Stabbing Of Teen Outside El Sereno Restaurant

A man arrested in two stabbings in El Sereno, including an attack that killed a 17-year-old boy waiting for family outside a restaurant, was charged Friday with murder and attempted murder. David Anthony Zapata, 32, faces up to 40 years to life in prison if convicted in what appear to be random attacks. It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf. Law enforcement officers responded to an Alhambra neighborhood Wednesday morning where they found the suspect, who had been sought since the stabbing Friday of 17-year-old Xavier Chavarin, a student at Woodrow Wilson High School. New surveillance video showed the attacker with wavy hair, a beard and a hat walk up to the teen victim, who was waiting for family outside King Torta restaurant, when he wasn’t looking and stab him in the back. The second stabbing victim, who was attacked hours later in the community northeast of downtown Los Angeles, is a father of three. He has since been released from the hospital. “These were senseless attacks," said LAPD Lt. Ryan Rabbett. "No confrontation, no words exchanged. Really just spontaneous and brutal."

NBC 4

76-Year-Old Dies Months After DNA Links Him To 4 Southern California Killings, Rapes

A 76-year-old man who was allegedly linked by DNA evidence to the cold-case killings of a 15-year-old girl and three young women in Los Angeles and Inglewood dating back as far as 1980 has died while in custody. Superior Court Judge Armenui Amy Ashvanian announced Friday that the court had received documentation that Billy Ray Richardson was pronounced dead Feb. 15. Richardson — who had previously been brought into court on a hospital gurney — had been awaiting arraignment on four murder charges after being extradited last year from Texas. The case against him was dismissed as a result of his death. “I just feel very sad for the families that will never get to see him held responsible for the crimes he committed — the horrendous murders of these four young women,” Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said outside the downtown Los Angeles courtroom. “I hope at the very least it brings them some peace to know we’ve identified the perpetrator and he’s no longer living among us.”

Los Angeles Daily News

18 Arrested After Allegedly Trying To Contact Minors Online For Sex In Northern California

Eighteen people were arrested in an undercover operation after they allegedly attempted to contact minors online for sex and other related crimes in Sacramento County, law enforcement officials announced Friday. During the investigation called Operation Secret Admirer, the suspects were in contact with undercover officers who posed as children as young as 13, according to authorities. The operation was conducted between mid-February and March 1. “These are very bad people we got off the streets,” Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper said during a press conference posted on Facebook. “There’s a whole lot more out there.” The operation was conducted by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and investigators from the California Department of Justice, along with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and multiple law enforcement agencies in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and San Joaquin counties.

Los Angeles Times

California ‘Teacher Of The Year’ Faces 14 Charges In Child Sexual Abuse Case

A teacher in National City who won a Teacher of the Year award in August was arrested and booked into county jail for an “inappropriate relationship” with a 13-year-old former student, police said. Jacqueline Ma, 34, was a teacher at Lincoln Acres Elementary in National City — just south of San Diego — where she taught fifth and sixth grades. On Monday, a “concerned parent” reached out to the National City Police Department saying she was afraid her 13-year-old was being treated inappropriately by Ma, according to a news release. The next day, detectives developed probable cause to arrest the teacher. She was booked into jail on “numerous felony charges” and was released on bail, according to police. Detectives continued to investigate and rearrested Ma on Thursday, charging her with additional felonies in the case. She is now being held without bail at Las Colinas Detention Facility.

Los Angeles Times

More Than 130 Cited For Allegedly Buying Alcohol For Minors In California

More than 130 people were cited in California on Saturday for allegedly purchasing alcohol for minors. A “Shoulder Tap” operation took place statewide involving 44 local law enforcement agencies in partnership with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC). During the operation, a minor under the supervision of law enforcement stands outside of a liquor or convenience store and asks customers to buy them alcohol. The minor will indicate they are underage and cannot purchase alcohol. “If an adult agrees to purchase alcohol for the underage person, they can be arrested and cited for furnishing alcohol to a minor,” authorities said. Through this method, dozens of people were cited for allegedly providing alcoholic beverages to minors, officials said. At least nine others were cited for open containers, public intoxication, DUI, and other crimes. “We conduct these operations as an effort to keep alcohol out of the hands of our youth,” said ABC Director Eric Hirata. “This collaborative effort among California law enforcement agencies spotlights underage drinking prevention, increases public safety for communities, and helps reduce DUIs.”

KTLA 5

Missouri Officer Fatally Shot, Another Wounded By Man At Gas Station; Suspect In Standoff

A police officer was killed and another seriously injured in a shooting Sunday night in eastern Missouri, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol. Detective Sgt. Mason Griffith died from injuries sustained in the shooting that occurred about 9:20 p.m. Sunday at a Casey’s gas station at 811 Market Street in Hermann, Missouri, which is along the Missouri River, between Columbia and St. Louis. The other officer remains in serious, but stable condition at a hospital, the highway patrol said. A manhunt was underway for the suspect who was identified as Kenneth Lee Simpson, 35 The highway patrol issued a blue alert, which signals when an officer has been seriously wounded or killed in the line of duty. At the time of the alert, the highway patrol said Simpson was either on foot or in a 2014 black Jeep Wrangler with Missouri license plate RF5A0P. He was described as 5-feet-10-inches tall and weighing about 180 pounds. He has red hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a black baseball hat, black long sleeve shirt, black or dark pants and tan boots. Authorities believed he was armed.

Kansas City Star

Firefighters Put Out Greater-Alarm Blaze At Metal Processor Downtown

A team of 96 firefighters put out a blaze in a 7,000-square-foot metal processing business in downtown Los Angeles Saturday night from outside the building while protecting nearby structures. The fire was reported at 10:17 p.m. at 826 S. Santa Fe Ave., according to the Los Angeles Fire Department's Nicholas Prange. It was out 46 minutes later at 11:03 p.m. Smoke was showing from the rear when firefighters arrived and quickly grew to heavy flames, Prange said. “Thankfully, this particular metal-working business did not contain some of the flammable metals like magnesium that can be a concern, but only aluminum was the main metal found inside,” he said. Once flames were mostly out, firefighters went back inside to “finish the job.” There was a potential for hazardous chemicals and metals that could react with water inside this type of business, which led firefighters to train water on the building from outside, Prange explained. 

NBC 4

LA County Eases Some COVID Rules As Emergency Declarations End

With COVID-19-related emergency declarations coming to an end in Los Angeles County at the end of the month, some local health orders prompted by the pandemic are being phased out. Most notably, the county's rule that people exposed to the virus wear a mask for 10 days will be dropped as of Monday, according to the Department of Public Health. Such mask wearing will be "strongly recommended," but it will no longer be required. Health officials urged that people who are exposed be tested as soon as possible, then test again within 3 to 5 days. Also starting Monday, people who test positive for the virus must isolate for five days, but may leave isolation after that as long as they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicines, and if they have no symptoms or only mild symptoms. A negative test will no longer be required to leave isolation between days six and 10, although health officials strongly recommend that people do so. People who are infected should wear a mask if they are around others for a total of 10 days, but they can stop wearing a mask after day five if they have received two negative tests taken at least a day apart.

FOX 11

Federal Lawmakers Call For Travel Advisory About Fentanyl In Pills At Mexican Pharmacies

Congressional lawmakers are calling on the State Department to issue a travel advisory warning Americans that some Mexican pharmacies are passing off counterfeit pills made of fentanyl and methamphetamine as legitimate pharmaceuticals. U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) sent a letter Friday to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken urging the department to immediately “warn Americans traveling to Mexico of the danger they face when purchasing pills from Mexican pharmacies.” In explaining the need for such a high-profile warning, the letter repeatedly cited an investigation by the Los Angeles Times as well as a study by UCLA researchers — both of which found dangerous counterfeit pills being sold over the counter at pharmacies in northwestern Mexico. “U.S. tourists who unwittingly purchase counterfeit pills from Mexican pharmacies — both with and without a prescription, according to the Los Angeles Times — face deadly risks from medications that have effectively been poisoned,” the letter said. 

Los Angeles Times

About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 9,200 dedicated and professional sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPPL serves to advance the interests of LAPD officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education.