Published April 22nd, 2024
An officer with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) was shot Monday afternoon. At approximately 2:45 p.m. Monday, a CHP motorcycle officer in full uniform was sitting in traffic at a red light near the Interstate 10 Freeway in West Covina when he was shot in the back without warning. The officer was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment and was subsequently released. Later that afternoon, CHP officers arrested an individual at the San Onofre Inspection Station in San Diego County on suspicion of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) and Weapons Possession, as a firearm was located inside the vehicle. Further investigation determined that the vehicle matched the description of a vehicle seen by witnesses and surveillance cameras in the area where the officer was shot earlier in the afternoon. Homicide detectives investigating the CHP officer’s shooting interviewed the operator of the vehicle at the local detention facility.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna stated that the investigation is ongoing and that charges were pending against the 47-year-old individual, who is a suspected gang member and on probation for prior offenses. Sheriff Luna also stated that the CHP officer was wearing a ballistic-resistant vest at the time of the incident, and that the bullet was stopped by the vest and “likely saved [the officer’s] life.”
