PrintTwo LA cops injured in shooting. Were they targeted?
On the heels of the arrest of a suspect in the shooting of two Ferguson police officers, there was another potential incident of police being targeted by assassins.
The attack occurred in Los Angeles, and it happened at the same intersection where an unarmed black man was shot while in police custody.
Los Angeles police are hunting for gunmen who shot at two plainclothes officers Sunday in the intersection where LAPD cops shot and killed an unarmed black man last year, officials said.
The two unnamed cops sustained minor injuries during the “targeted” shootout at the corner of 65th Street and Broadway, Det. Meghan Aguilar told the Los Angeles Times,
That interstation is the where Ezell Ford was shot and killed last year, CBS Los Angeles reported. The unarmed diagnosed schizophrenic was cooperating with officers and was on the ground when he was shot last August, his family said.
Ford's death triggered racially-charged tension in the community. Protesters demanded justice for the 25-year-old, and a group of rappers threatened to avenge the shooting.
Police said the two cops were diving in an unmarked police car when a group of men shot at them around 5:45 Sunday. The cops returned fire. It’s not clear if the two officers were injured by bullets or debris, but both cops are expected to be okay.
“I heard like 20 shots, and then a bunch of police sirens,” 54-year-old Junior Moore, who was eating at a nearby burger joint, told the newspaper.
Police detained several people at the scene, but they are still hunting for two possible gunmen. They are not sure if any of the suspects were injured in the shootout.
t’s not clear if the Sunday shooting and that of Ford are linked.
Two plainclothes policemen driving in an unmarked car? The raw evidence points to a random attack, not a targeted shooting. However, the fact that the attack took place at the exact intersection where an unarmed civilian died means that a targeted assassination cannot be ruled out. But for that to be true, the assassins would have to know either that the car was a police vehicle or that the two plainclothesmen were police.
If the shooters had that kind of intel, this won't be the last shooting targeting police in Los Angeles. It suggests the unthinkable: a group with inside knowledge of the LA police department personnel.
Or – it could all be just a striking coincidence. I imagine we'll find out soon enough.
