By Veronica Rocha
Los Angeles Times
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Prosecutors Wednesday charged a 31-year-old man with trying to kill two Long Beach police officers in a shootout at an apartment complex.
Eric Arroyo faces two felony counts of attempting to murder a police officer and two felony counts of assaulting a police officer with a firearm in connection with Sunday’s shootout in the 300 block of East Artesia Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
The charges come one day after investigators said that the bullet that wounded one of the officers originated from the weapon of another officer who was aiming for Arroyo, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
The officer’s injuries were not life-threatening. None of the officers has been identified.
Police said that after the officers “entered the complex, Arroyo exited one of the apartment units and began shooting at a uniformed police officer in the courtyard.” Three officers returned gunfire.
After shooting at the officers, Arroyo dropped his gun and fled, police said. Officers later detained him by using a Taser. He was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for a gunshot wound.
Ballistic evidence showed that a bullet lodged in a wall directly behind the wounded officer came from Arroyo’s gun, but no rounds that Arroyo fired struck the officer, investigators said. Additional ballistic evidence showed that Arroyo shot at more than one officer, police said.
Arroyo is being held in lieu of $3-million bail and he’s scheduled to be arraigned Friday. If convicted of all charges, he faces a maximum penalty of 80 years to life in prison, prosecutors said.
The officer’s shooting is the latest in a string of incidents plaguing the Long Beach Police Department.
On Saturday, dozens of demonstrators gathered outside police headquarters and in Lincoln Park to protest recent fatal shootings by officers.
The department came under fire after Officer Matthew Hernandez fatally shot Feras Morad, an unarmed 20-year-old college student, on May 27, in what police described as a “physical struggle.”
In April, Long Beach Officer Jeffrey A. Meyer fatally shot 19-year-old Hector Morejon, who was unarmed, after police responding to a report of vandalism said he extended his arm “as if pointing an object, which the officer perceived was a gun.”
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