Graphic photo taken in moment following shooting of 2 LA officers shows deputy shot through the jaw saving fellow cop with tourniquet and radioing for help
Two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies shot in a Saturday night ambush attack are expected to survive, according to reports.
KTTV-TV investigative reporter Bill Melugin shared a photo of the moment following the shooting of the officers on Saturday, revealing that a female deputy — who was shot through the jaw — was able to apply a tourniquet to the male deputy's wounds and radio for help, despite being grievously injured.
The female officer, according to CNN, is a 31-year-old mother. The male officer is just 24 years old.
What's a brief history here?
The horrific ambush of two deputies took place in Los Angeles on Saturday evening.
A suspect fired on the deputies in an apparently unprovoked attack as they sat in a police cruiser on a Los Angeles street, authorities say.
Both were "severely wounded" during the incident and taken to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery. They are expected to live, despite their injuries.
Black Lives Matter activists reportedly converged on the hospital, blocking entrances and demanding that the officers be left to die. Several protesters were arrested during the fracas.
What are the details?
Melugin, with the permission of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the officers' families, shared the photo Sunday night on Twitter.
He wrote, "NEW: LASD & the families of the two ambushed deputies have given me permission to show this graphic photo of the moment after they were shot. I'm told female deputy was shot through jaw, still radioed for help & applied tourniquet to male deputy's wounds. Both stable now."
What else?
A manhunt is under way for a suspect who approached the officers' parked patrol vehicle and fired on the deputies sitting inside.
Officials are offering a $100,000 reward for information on the shooting.
The sheriff's department describes the suspect as a black man between 28 and 30 years old wearing dark clothing. He was last seen in a dark sedan.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Setif Capelton, who lives in the neighborhood in which the officers were shot, said that the attack "makes no sense."
"It hurts this community more than anything else," Capelton said. "Now, what if someone walks up to a police officer's car, and they get scared and shoot that person?"
Capelton said, "People are looking for someone to blame for racism. People are looking to blame a cop."
Local resident Maria Medina added, "It feels like there's more tension between the police and people in this area."
Of the shooting, Medina added, "[N]o one deserves to have their lives taken like that."
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said the shooting was disturbing.
"That was a cowardly act," he said. "The two deputies were just doing their jobs, minding their own business and watching for the safety of the people on the train. Seeing somebody walk up and just start shooting on them. It p***es me off."
You can see the moment the suspect approaches the police cruiser and opens fire on its occupants below.
(Content warning: graphic footage):
Update: The gunman walked up on the deputies and opened fire without warning or provocation. pic.twitter.com/cBQjyKkoxJ— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) September 13, 2020
