Officer Involved Shooting in Hollywood Area NR14492jk

UPDATE January 5, 2015

Updated: The officers involved in the below incident have been identified as Police Officer II Daniel Jara, Serial No. 38241 and Police Officer II Nestor Escobar, Serial No. 40031 assigned to Hollywood Division.

Los Angeles: LAPD officers involved in shooting after armed suspect points her gun at officers.

On Friday, December 26, 2014, around 1:30 a.m., officers from Hollywood Area patrol responded to a radio call of an assault with a deadly weapon in the 6800 block of Hollywood Boulevard. When officers arrived, they met with security personnel who advised that the suspect, later identified as Diamond Vargas was in the parking structure armed with a gun.

When they entered the parking structure, they were met by a victim who identified Vargas as her domestic partner. She also advised that Vargas was armed with a gun. After placing the victim out of harm’s way, officers made their approach towards Vargas. As they were attempting to establish communication with Vargas, she turned and pointed a handgun at officers resulting in an officer involved shooting.

Los Angeles Fire Department responded and transported Vargas to a local hospital where she was treated and remained in stable condition.

A handgun was recovered at scene and no officers were injured during this incident.

Los Angeles Police Department Force Investigation Division (FID) detectives responded to the incident and are conducting a thorough investigation of the officer-involved shooting. The investigation will ultimately be reviewed by the Chief of Police, the Office of the Inspector General and The Board of Police Commissioners for compliance with the Departments use-of-force policy, which states that an officer’s use-of-force actions must be objectively reasonable. Additionally, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Justice System Integrity Division will conduct a comprehensive review of the facts of the officer-involved-shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call Force Investigation Division at 213-486-5230. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on “webtips” and follow the prompts.