The Los Angeles Police Department released footage Monday of an extremely close-range July shootout that left one officer injured and the suspect dead.
Watch the incident unfold on both in-car and body cams with commentary from the LAPD in the video above.
How the LAPD Shootout Unfolded
Around 10:15 p.m. on July 28, uniformed officers assigned to Mission Patrol Division conducted an investigative vehicle stop. Police said one of the officers recognized the driver from a “previous police contact.”
Police later identified the subject of the stop as Richard Mendoza.
The two officers approached Mendoza’s vehicle, of which he was the driver and sole occupant of his vehicle. After a brief conversation, the officers confirm Mendoza was still on Federal Probation. They then request him step out of the vehicle.
As Mendoza exits the vehicle, he produces a semiautomatic pistol and, without warning, begins firing rounds at the officers. The gunfire immediately strikes one of the officers, who tries to grab Mendoza.
On the opposite side of the vehicle, the second officer then draws his sidearm and returns fire. The video shows the officer firing three rounds. It also appears that one of the rounds skipped off the car roof and caught Mendoza in the head.
The shootout ends as the second officer checks on his partner and then places Mendoza in handcuffs.
Post LAPD Shootout Report
The wounded officer received medical care at the scene by Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) personnel. They transported her to a local hospital where she was treated for a non-life threatening gunshot wound, police said.
LAFD Rescue Ambulance transported Mendoza to a local hospital, where he was treated for multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso. Hospital staff pronounced him dead at a later date.
Officers located and recovered a .380 caliber semiautomatic pistol from the scene.
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