Two El Monte Police Department officers and a suspect were killed in a shooting Tuesday.
The shooting occurred about 5:10 p.m. in the area of Garvey Avenue and Central Avenue, near the San Bernardino (10) Freeway, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which was assisting El Monte police with the investigation.
Sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Meyer said the officers were responding to a motel in the area on reports of a stabbing and came under fire when they attempted to make contact with the suspect inside a room. The suspect then fled the motel into a parking lot, where a second shooting occurred.
The officers were taken to a hospital where they later died of their injuries, while the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, according to sheriff’s department and El Monte officials. A body could be seen covered by a sheet at the shooting scene.
Neither the suspect nor the officers were immediately identified, though EMPD acting Chief Ben Lowry said one of the officers was a 22-year veteran of the force, while the other had been with the department for less than a year.
Police and sheriff’s deputies swarmed the area of the shooting and appeared to be searching the motel. However, Meyer reported no other suspects were identified in the shooting.
The shooting comes one day after a California Highway Patrol officer was shot multiple times during a traffic stop in Studio City.