A man suspected of opening fire on two Los Angeles police officers in a sprawling Hollywood Hills home Monday was found dead inside after an hours-long standoff that disrupted the workday routine in the lush, secluded neighborhood.
The man was not immediately identified, pending notification of next of kin.
The officers were responding to a domestic violence call in the 8100 block of Gould Avenue about 8 a.m., authorities say, and had just crossed the home's threshold when the man shot at them with a semiautomatic gun, injuring one, and then barricaded himself inside.
Gould Avenue resident William Yakey, 77, said he went outside when he heard the sirens and helicopters. He got to the end of his driveway before officers approached him.
"I thought it was a fire, so I went to go see what was going on," he said. "They told me to get back in the house."
Yakey said he saw about 30 officers walking up Gould Avenue toward a house at the top of the hill, and police blocked access for hours on Laurel Canyon Road.
SWAT officers entered the home about 12:30 p.m. and found the man dead, police said. It was not immediately clear if he died from a wound suffered during the initial firefight or from a self-inflicted gunshot.
Police said attempts to contact the man before they entered the home were unsuccessful.
The injured officer -- who sources said was wounded when she was hit in the face and arm by wood fragments -- was "doing well" at a local hospital, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said. She was not immediately identified.
The other officer, described only as male, was taken to the hospital but was not believed to have been injured, Sgt. Frank Preciado said.
Two other men were in the home at the time, Preciado said. One was taken to a hospital with an unspecified leg injury, and the other was interviewed by authorities.
Copyright 2014 - Los Angeles Times
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
