NORWALK – County authorities Saturday released the name of the man who was fatally shot during a shootout between police and a an attempted carjacking suspect in Norwalk.
Pedro Lopez, 67, is the innocent bystander who was killed during the shootout, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office.
The carjacking suspect was wounded during the shooting and taken to a hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
Lopez was found in a yard near the shootout.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department issued a statement about the circumstances surrounding how Lopez was shot on Friday.
“During a check of the surrounding yard of the location, deputies located a second individual (victim) — a male Hispanic 67, lying on the ground unresponsive,” the statement said. “Paramedics were summoned to the location and determined the male victim sustained trauma to the upper torso, and he was pronounced deceased at the scene.”
It was not known who fired the shot that killed Lopez.
The shooting was reported shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday in the 12100 block of Foster Road, near San Antonio Drive, the department said.
Deputies had gone to the area to search for a suspect “who committed a recent assault with a deadly weapon with a firearm and attempted carjacking in Norwalk,” a department statement said.
“Deputies located the suspect who was walking in the area. A deputy attempted to detain the suspect, at which time the suspect produced a handgun, and a deputy-involved shooting occurred. The suspect attempted to flee on foot when an additional deputy engaged him, and a second deputy-involved shooting occurred,” the statement said.
“The suspect continued to flee, still armed with a handgun as he entered a front yard of a nearby residence. An additional deputy attempted to detain him, and a third deputy-involved shooting occurred. The suspect proceeded to make entry into that location, at which time the residents, who did not know the suspect, proceeded to exit and made contact with the deputies,” the statement said.
A SWAT team from the Special Enforcement Bureau was sent to the scene and after locating the suspect with gunshot wounds arrested him
No deputies were injured. Anyone with information on the case was urged to call the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.
