Officer-Involved Shooting in Northeast NR14432ne

June 17, 2015

***UPDATE***

Updated: The officers involved in the below incident have been identified as Police Officer II Josue Merida, Serial No. 37596, Jeremy Wagner, Serial No. 38873, Miguel Sanchez, Serial No. 40739, David Ramirez, Serial No. 39363, Miguel Ruano, Serial No. 39417, Richard Wilson, Serial No. 39076, Police Officer III Ivan Ramos, Serial No. 26158 and Floyd Curry, Serial No. 34967.

Los Angeles: Suspected gang member leads officers on wild pursuit ending in gunfire.

On October 30, 2014, Hollenbeck Area Gang Detectives identified Jorge Trejo, as a suspect involved in an assault with a deadly weapon investigation where a pocket knife and a shotgun were involved. Detectives prepared a Crime Alert notification, which included a description of the suspect and his vehicle and distributed it to Hollenbeck Patrol and Gang Detail officers.

On November 8, 2014, around 11:50 p.m., Hollenbeck patrol officers observed Trejo driving a blue Mazda pickup truck in the area of Avenue 26 and North Figueroa Street. Officers attempted to stop Trejo but Trejo failed to yield and a vehicle pursuit was initiated. Additional Hollenbeck officers joined the pursuit.

During the slow-speed pursuit, Trejo stopped his vehicle at multiple locations and pointed a sawed-off shotgun at officers at which time officer involved shootings (OIS) occurred. The first OIS occurred at Avenue 26 and Lacey. Trejo continued driving away from officers and again, Trejo brandished the shotgun and a second OIS occurred at Avenue 31 and Griffin Avenue. Trejo drove away and continued to point the weapon at officers resulting in a third OIS in the area of Daly Street and Darwin Avenue.

Metropolitan Division Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) were requested to provide armored rescue vehicles to assist in containing the suspect’s vehicle. The pursuit continued to North Broadway and Griffin Avenue, where Trejo stopped his vehicle again. Trejo then continued to drive away from the scene, and the Incident Commander authorized Metropolitan SWAT officers to take over the vehicular pursuit.

The pursuit continued to Huron Street, south of Cypress Avenue, where the SWAT armored rescue vehicle conducted a pursuit intervention technique to stop Trejo’s vehicle. Additional SWAT armored vehicles deployed to contain Trejo’s vehicle. Trejo then pointed his shotgun in the direction of the SWAT officer at which time another officer involved shooting occurred.

An arrest team was formed by SWAT officers, who approached and extracted Trejo from the vehicle. A Rescue Ambulance was summoned and Trejo was pronounced dead.

A sawed-off shotgun was recovered from the suspect’s vehicle. No officers or citizens were injured during the 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, Office of the Inspector General and The Board of Police Commissioners for compliance with the Department’s 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 shootings.

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.