A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy is in stable condition following surgery after being shot in the stomach by a transient in Long Beach in an exchange of fire that left the suspect dead, authorities said.
The deputy was shot Monday morning after he and a second deputy stopped the transient -- identified as Noel Enrique Aguilar, 23 -- near 69th Way and Long Beach Boulevard before 10 a.m. Monday, authorities said. Aguilar managed to wrestle away from the deputies and ran north, where they caught up to him and a "second struggle occurred," the sheriff's department said in a statement.
"During the struggle, the man attempted to take one of the deputy's handgun away. This resulted in both deputies firing their duty weapon at the suspect, who was also armed with his own handgun," the department said.
Aguilar was killed but not before shooting one of the deputies in the stomach, the department said. Aguilar's gun was recovered at the scene, according to authorities.
The circumstances of the shooting are still being investigated.
There have been eight homicides in the last year within a mile of Monday's shooting, according to the L.A. Times' Homicide Report.
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McClatchy-Tribune News Service
