The body of a Whittier Police officer killed in a shootout with a suspected gang member and murder suspect will be taken to Rose Hills Memorial Park Tuesday in preparation for funeral services, while the man accused of killing him remained hospitalized and questions lingered about why the suspect was on the streets at all.
Officer Keith Wayne Boyer, 53, was killed about 8 a.m. Monday while responding to a traffic crash near Colima Road and Mar Vista Street. The grandfather, school resource officer and drummer in a classic-rock tribute band was a 27-year veteran of the department.
Another officer, identified by Whittier police Chief Jeff Piper as as three-year veteran Patrick Hazel, was injured in the shooting, but had stable vital signs.
The 26-year-old alleged gunman, who has not yet been identified, was wounded in the shootout and was last reported hospitalized in an intensive care unit.
“It looks like he’s gonna live,” sheriff’s homicide Lt. John Corina told reporters Monday.
Boyer’s body was taken Monday from UCI Medical Center to the Orange County coroner’s office in Santa Ana. He is expected to be taken Tuesday afternoon to Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier in preparation for funeral services, which are expected to be held early next week.
In the meantime, a memorial of flowers and balloons continued to grow outside the Whittier Police Department.
Corina said witnesses identified the shooter as possibly the gunman involved in a murder earlier Monday involving a stolen car the gunman ultimately crashed in Whittier. That homicide and car theft occurred about 5:30 a.m. Monday at a home in the 1400 block of Volney Drive in City Terrace, according to Deputy Kimberly Alexander of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
The victim in that shooting was identified as Roy Torres, 49, who was reported to be a cousin of the gunman.
The Whittier shootout began shortly after the unnamed suspect rear-ended some motorists near Colima and Mar Vista, disabling the vehicle he was driving, authorities said. He then asked people in the car he struck to help him move the disabled vehicle, according to Corina.
Officers arriving at the scene around 8 a.m. were told by motorists that the suspect was around the corner with the disabled car, Corina said.
When officers approached the suspect, he was sitting in his car. As they asked him to get out of the car and prepared to pat him down for weapons, he pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and began firing at the officers, at least one of whom returned fire, wounding the suspect, Corina said.
The sheriff’s lieutenant said the suspect was a resident of Los Angeles, who had been out of prison on parole for about two weeks and was driving a vehicle stolen in East Los Angeles. The suspect’s gun was recovered at the scene, Corina said.
“Here you have a case where two officers walk up on a vehicle where they believe someone needs medical assistance and they end up in a gunbattle fighting for their lives,” Sheriff Jim McDonnell told reporters.
Boyer was a divorced father of grown children, a drummer who played in bands for nonprofit events and a “personal friend of mine for 25 years,” Piper said, adding he had occasionally played guitar with Boyer in that band.
“He was the best of the best,” Piper said. “He was humble, smiling, positive. He was a great guy and recently talked to me about retiring.”
The impact of this shooting will “last for years. But we’re gonna get through it. This makes us stronger. And everyone needs to know what these officers face on a daily basis,” Piper said as he broke down in tears.
“We have been grieving since 10 a.m. this morning,” Piper said Monday. “I didn’t think I had any more tears left to cry but obviously I do.”
As Whittier officers mourned Boyer’s death, officers from neighboring law enforcement agencies including Los Angeles and South Gate stepped in to patrol Whittier streets.
Details about the suspect were still unclear, but Piper indicated he had been released from custody early, thanks to a series of legislative changes aimed at reducing penalties for some offenses or redirecting some offenders to county jails instead of state prisons.
Although specifics were not released about the suspect’s criminal history, CNN reported that he had been released after serving just 11 days for an armed robbery.
“We need to wake up,” Piper said during the emotional Monday news conference. “Enough is enough. Passing these propositions, you’re creating these laws that is raising crime. It’s not good for our communities and it’s not good for our officers. What you have today is an example of that. So we need to pull our head out of the sand and start realizing what we’re doing to our communities and to our officers who give their life like Officer Boyer did today.”
“You have no idea how things have changed in the last four years,” Piper added. “People don’t want to follow rules, don’t care about people.”
Piper’s concerns were echoed by Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell who spoke about the passage of new laws that put convicted criminals like Monday’s shooter out on the street with an early parole.
“AB 109 provides for some early releases. Prop 47 stops people from entering the system and Prop 57 accelerates their release,” McDonnell said.
“County jail has become a default state prison,” McDonnell said. “But people need to be rehabilitated before they get released on to the streets. There also needs to be drug treatment and treatment for mental illness first. Right now, we are putting people on the streets who are not ready to be on the streets.”
The state Senate was expected to adjourn Tuesday in honor of Boyer, according to Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis offered prayers for the injured officer and the community.
“The brave men and women of our law enforcement agencies go to work every day knowing that they may find themselves in danger’s path, yet they never turn their backs on protecting our community,” Solis said. “Los Angeles County stands with the fallen officer and we hope for a speedy recovery of the other injured officer. Our prayers are with the community of Whittier.”
—City News Service