Officers shot in Long Beach; suspect remains at large
By Tracy Manzer, Long Beach Press-Telegram
LA Daily News
Article Last Updated:12/22/2006 05:55:30 PM PST

LONG BEACH - A rookie police officer working South Division patrol with his training partner was shot four times in the throat in a Friday afternoon gun battle following a traffic stop in downtown, and his partner was shot in the head.
An army of Long Beach police officers descended on the area at Long Beach Boulevard and Sixth Street looking for suspects in an SUV after the shots were fired about 1:20 p.m.

An Amber alert was issued at 4 p.m. for a white 1998 Nissan Pathfinder with the license plate 4AVN056 believed to be involved in the shooting.

Police described the suspect as a male Hispanic or Filipino in his late 20s or early 30s, 5 foot 7 inches to 5 foot 9 inches tall and 210 to 230 pounds. He was also described as having short hair or a shaved head and tattoos on both arms.

Anyone with information was asked to call (562) 435-6711.

The injured officers were transported to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, with both listed in critical condition. As the afternoon wore on, however, family and friends received some good news.

The most seriously hurt, a rookie in training, was shot four times in the throat area, said Steve James, president of the Long Beach Police Officers Association.

Although in extremely critical condition, the young officer survived a two-hour-plus surgery and doctors had upgraded his prognosis, giving him a 60 to 70 percent chance of survival, James said.

At a Friday evening press conference, Police Chief Anthony Batts said, "They're putting up a good fight, they're doing a good job."

The second injured officer, a veteran with at least eight years on the job who was training the new officer, suffered a gunshot wound to the head.

Doctors had feared the officer's spinal cord may have been severed, but were able to discern that had not happened, James said.

Fragments found in the officer's brain initially believed to be gun metal turned out to be either shattered bone or shattered glass, he said.

"That is very good news," James said.

That officer has a seriously ill 3-and-a-half year old child who came home from the hospital Thursday following surgery, James said. Officers are working to help the family provide for the child as well as gather around him, he said.

The shooting occurred after the two officers initiated a traffic stop, officers said.

Chief Batts said the suspect got out of the SUV and opened fire on the two officers. The officers were able to return fire, Batts said, but the gunman got away.

Officers at the scene of the crime said it appeared as though the suspect opened fire on another police vehicle on Long Beach Boulevard at Broadway after those investigators responded to the injured officers' calls for help.

No one in that second unit was wounded, police said, and officers were able to rush the injured pair to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.

Not long after the shooting, a vehicle matching that description was found about 10 blocks from the scene of the crime. Police set up a perimeter Thursday afternoon, including the Special Weapons and Tactics Team, but those units were called back.

Large portions of downtown were closed to traffic as the investigation unfurled. Police shut down the crime scenes at Long Beach Boulevard and Broadway and at Long Beach Boulevard and Sixth Street. They also closed streets leading to the emergency room entrance of the hospital.

Dozens of police vehicles and several Long Beach Fire Department vehicles lined the roads leading to the emergency room bay. Police escorts rushed relatives into the hospital within minutes of the incident.

The mother of the rookie officer gasped and sobbed as she rushed toward the emergency room, one hand clasped to her chest.

"Oh my God, oh my God," she cried. "He's been shot, oh my God."

Police asked that the officers' names be withheld until they could notify all of the relatives, some of whom live out of state.

Here's wishing the officers have a speedy recovery.

I would surmise a shotgun was used?

The world is full of scum. I hope they kill the POS before he wastes anymore of my tax dollars.

Quoted: It's a freaking war out there - to hell with Iraq - we're killing our own here! I can't figure out where these people come from ...

LA unified school district? Only about 46% of blacks and 39% of latinos graduate highschool in LAUSD. They are getting an early start on the road to nowhere.

Add the single parent home. The hiphop culture, the drug culture, the gang culture to a lack of education and its all to predicatable.

I wish the officers a speedy recovery.


EDIT: What's with all the officer shootings this week?? First, an officer in Oceanside is killed, then yesterday, an officer in San Francisco is killed, now these two officers have been shot. Random acts of violence or have crooks declared war on the cops? In any event, I wish LEOs the best of luck and hope they stay safe out there.

Quoted: I wish the officers a speedy recovery. EDIT: What's with all the officer shootings this week??

Collison of several issues.

1. PENI got hit hard last week. They are the dominant white gang in Orange/riverside/San Diego counties as well as some parts of southern LA county and Las Vegas. They are going to push back.

2. Ongoing greenlight on LE by the mongols.

3. increased immigration enforcement in orange county jail, costa mesa city jail, anaheim city jail. Illegals now know they may end up deported if arrested for anything that results in them being booked into those jails. So they will either move to areas that do not check the immigration status of new bookings or they will resist arrest by any means possible in order to avoid deportation.

4. The christmas holiday shopping season. Lots of distracted people out there with plenty of money in their wallets and bags of expensive gifts.

5. Schools out for the holidays. So the 13-22yo set has more free time. that includes free time for the juvenile deliquents who attend the continuation schools and adult ed. they are all on Christmas break right now. More predators and more prey both.

6. A very active mexican auto theft ring is working Southern california right now. stealing several high dollar new SUV's every day and driving them straight to mexico. An illegal in a stolen Escalade trying to make it back to mexico wont be scared to shoot a witness or a cop who tries to stop him. Note the Long beach cops were shot by a mexican guy driving an SUV. they may have stumbled on a unreported recently stolen and not even known it.

7. Three strikes. If you know you're going down for 25 to life then there is nothing to lose by shooting it out with the cops.

Quoted: Quoted: I wish the officers a speedy recovery. EDIT: What's with all the officer shootings this week?? Collison of several issues. 1. PENI got hit hard last week. They are the dominant white gang in Orange/riverside/San Diego counties as well as some parts of southern LA county and Las Vegas. They are going to push back. 2. Ongoing greenlight on LE by the mongols. 3. increased immigration enforcement in orange county jail, costa mesa city jail, anaheim city jail. Illegals now know they may end up deported if arrested for anything that results in them being booked into those jails. So they will either move to areas that do not check the immigration status of new bookings or they will resist arrest by any means possible in order to avoid deportation. 4. The christmas holiday shopping season. Lots of distracted people out there with plenty of money in their wallets and bags of expensive gifts. 5. Schools out for the holidays. So the 13-22yo set has more free time. that includes free time for the juvenile deliquents who attend the continuation schools and adult ed. they are all on Christmas break right now. More predators and more prey both. 6. A very active mexican auto theft ring is working Southern california right now. stealing several high dollar new SUV's every day and driving them straight to mexico. An illegal in a stolen Escalade trying to make it back to mexico wont be scared to shoot a witness or a cop who tries to stop him. Note the Long beach cops were shot by a mexican guy driving an SUV. they may have stumbled on a unreported recently stolen and not even known it. 7. Three strikes. If you know you're going down for 25 to life then there is nothing to lose by shooting it out with the cops.

True.

Preliminary report of how the shooting occured.

Off duty cop was shopping at a gun store. While in the store he saw a parolee in the store buying a concealment holster, which he thought was strange since parolees cant own guns and certainly cant legally CCW.

He called Dispatch who sent a training car to stop the parolee as he left the store. As soon as the parolee pulled over he jumped out shooting, hitting both officers before they even got out of the car.

Long beach knows who the suspect is but has not located him yet.

My son was at LB Memorial when this happened.
His room had a view of the street the ER is on, and sure enough, it had a blockade.  It's normal procedure for the ER to close whenever officers are brought there.  There have been cases in the past where scumbags have tried to finish off the surviving officers.


Spoke to an officer on Sunday and he said the officers are doing better than expected, thankfully.

Quoted: And why in God's name do we put up with them in our society?

+1

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: It's a freaking war out there - to hell with Iraq - we're killing our own here! I can't figure out where these people come from ... LA unified school district? Only about 46% of blacks and 39% of latinos graduate highschool in LAUSD. They are getting an early start on the road to nowhere. Add the single parent home. The hiphop culture, the drug culture, the gang culture to a lack of education and its all to predicatable. "No, you just dont understand... it's only music and music is art and freedom of expression" I pray for those officers recovery... My prayers are with the families as well

its not the music, its the morons who dont realize its only music...(though it wouldnt bother me if i never had to hear the shit again.)

same shit with video games...


i wish the officers a speedy recovery. and the shithead who shot them a slow, agonizing death.

My LASD buddy called after this had happened, man I hope the cops kill this guy before he can do anymore damage.

I thought the training car got off a few shots, something about back window had holes in it.    

www.nbc4.tv/news/10618950/detail.html?dl=headlineclick
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- A man killed in an officer-involved shooting Wednesday in Santa Ana is believed to be the suspect wanted in connection with the shooting of two Long Beach police officers last week, police said.

Oscar Gabriel Gallegos, 33, had been the target of a police manhunt ever since two Long Beach police officers were shot and seriously injured Friday. Earlier Wednesday, Long Beach police and city officials announced that a $75,000 reward had been posted for information leading to Gallegos' arrest.

Not long after that announcement, news broke that a man had been killed in an officer-involved shooting in a parking lot in the 200 block of East Warner Avenue in Santa Ana. Santa Ana police Sgt. Lorenzo Carrillo said the man killed in that shooting is believed to be Gallegos, but officials were waiting for the coroner to confirm the man's identity.


Identification will not come until an autopsy is performed Thursday, Carrillo said.

Officer Juan Gomez of the Long Beach Police Department also said the man "is believed to be the suspect that we are searching for, however, we can't confirm that yet."

According to Carrillo, three Santa Ana police officers in a white patrol car went to the strip mall parking lot around 5 p.m. at the request of Long Beach police. When they arrived on the scene, officers saw the man believed to be Gallegos riding in the passenger seat of a silver older-model Toyota Camry, Carrillo said.

The man got out of the car and opened fire on police, and the three Santa Ana officers returned fire, striking him multiple times, Carrillo said.

None of the officers was injured. At least one bullet struck the patrol car and at least two other vehicles in the parking lot were hit, Carrillo said.

"I'm sure when our officers showed up it was an intense situation," he said.

The driver of the Camry was being questioned by police to determine his involvement with Gallegos.

Gallegos was wanted on suspicion of attempted murder in Friday's shooting of Long Beach officers Roy Wade, 39, and Abe Yap, 37.

Long Beach police Chief Anthony Batts told reporters Wednesday that both officers were recovering and doing well -- something he called "a miracle."

Batts called Gallegos a "known thug" with a rap sheet dating back to 1990, when he was arrested for a firearms violation. He has also been arrested for drug offenses, making terrorist threats and assault with a deadly weapon.

He was deported in 1994 -- apparently to Mexico -- and possibly several other times, Batts said.

Batts said Gallegos has family members in the Long Beach area and warned them that they would be prosecuted if they helped him elude capture.

Wade and Yap remained in critical but stable condition, police said.

The officers stopped a 1998 Nissan Pathfinder near Long Beach Boulevard and Sixth Street for running a red light at about 1:20 p.m. Friday, and the driver got out of the sport utility vehicle and opened fire on them while they were still sitting in the squad car, Batts said.

Yap was shot in the face. Wade, who had just finished his police academy training three weeks ago, was shot in the chest and neck.

The officers never got out of the vehicle and did not fire back, according to Jason Evans of the Long Beach Police Department. The SUV sped away south on Long Beach Boulevard. At Broadway, the driver exchanged shots with an officer responding to the shooting, Evans said. Neither was hit.

An officer responding to the shooting did not wait for an ambulance but drove Wade and Yap to Long Beach Memorial Hospital, where both officers underwent surgery.

The gunman eluded a massive search. Police found the white Pathfinder in a parking lot under an apartment building in the 200 block of Elm Avenue.

Fellow officers described Wade, the more seriously injured officer, as a "gentle giant" who was fulfilling a lifelong dream of becoming a policeman.

The 6-foot-5-inch Wade, a former Long Beach City College basketball player who aspired to play in the National Basketball Association until he suffered a knee injury, worked for about 10 years at a camp in the San Bernardino Mountains for Long Beach Poly High School students, then more recently as a security guard at a Long Beach elementary school, according to the Press-Telegram.

The bullet missed Yap's brain and his prognosis is good. The UCLA graduate is a specialist in stolen cars. On Thursday, his 3-year-old son was released from a hospital after undergoing a medical procedure.

Anyone with more information on Gallegos was asked to call police at 562-435-6711.

Anyone interested in making a donation to aid the officers and their families can send them to: Widows and Orphans Fund, Long Beach Police Officers Association, 2865 Temple Ave., Long Beach, Calif. 90755.

Quoted: www.nbc4.tv/news/10618950/detail.html?dl=headlineclick LONG BEACH, Calif. -- A man killed in an officer-involved shooting Wednesday in Santa Ana is believed to be the suspect wanted in connection with the shooting of two Long Beach police officers last week, police said. Oscar Gabriel Gallegos, 33, had been the target of a police manhunt ever since two Long Beach police officers were shot and seriously injured Friday. Earlier Wednesday, Long Beach police and city officials announced that a $75,000 reward had been posted for information leading to Gallegos' arrest. Not long after that announcement, news broke that a man had been killed in an officer-involved shooting in a parking lot in the 200 block of East Warner Avenue in Santa Ana. Santa Ana police Sgt. Lorenzo Carrillo said the man killed in that shooting is believed to be Gallegos, but officials were waiting for the coroner to confirm the man's identity. Identification will not come until an autopsy is performed Thursday, Carrillo said. Officer Juan Gomez of the Long Beach Police Department also said the man "is believed to be the suspect that we are searching for, however, we can't confirm that yet." According to Carrillo, three Santa Ana police officers in a white patrol car went to the strip mall parking lot around 5 p.m. at the request of Long Beach police. When they arrived on the scene, officers saw the man believed to be Gallegos riding in the passenger seat of a silver older-model Toyota Camry, Carrillo said. The man got out of the car and opened fire on police, and the three Santa Ana officers returned fire, striking him multiple times...

Good news.

I was just about to post that I have the PD new release with the pics of the guy but looks like hes dead.

Good shootin Santa Ana PD.

From what I heard on KFI, officers fired 30 rounds.

He was an illegal, deported 3 times back to Mexico, but kept returning.
This time he's not coming back...

Now THAT'S what I call good police work.

SOB taken all the way out.  I'd hope his family is looked at for aiding & abetting - not just for current situation, but supporting him as an illegal (an ongoing crime).  

Bill Wiese
San Jose

Quoted: He was an illegal, deported 3 times back to Mexico, but kept returning.

Yep. Plus he had been repeatedly arrested since the last deportation but ICE never bothered to throw an INS hold on him while he was in jail any of those times.

Thankfully he fired some shots at the Santa Ana SWAT guys, which made their day... "keep pulling till you hear clicks boys!"

-d

I talked with a buddy who is LASD but knows a long beach guy who said he got off one shot in a radio car at the mall and the santa ana guys just unloaded on him.

I found out the guy was using a lazer on the handgun also.

Quoted: I talked with a buddy who is LASD but knows a long beach guy who said he got off one shot in a radio car at the mall and the santa ana guys just unloaded on him.

Lit him up like a Christmas tree.