LOS ANGELES – Authorities Saturday released the name of a man suspected of firing at a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter and threatening family members in South Los Angeles.
The LAPD received a call around 1:20 p.m. Thursday in the 2100 block of West 76th Street and Van Ness Avenue, near the border with Inglewood, to reports of a man with a firearm exhibiting threatening behavior, police said.
The suspect, identified Saturday as 57-year-old Anthony Whitsey, allegedly fired three to five rounds from a pistol at an orbiting black-and- white LAPD helicopter that arrived at the scene, police said.
The preliminary force investigation revealed arriving officers on the ground fired gunshots at Whitsey, who refused commands to surrender but dropped his pistol and remained in the front yard, police said. He continued to refuse commands to surrender.
Additional officers who arrived at the scene fired a 40 mm less-lethal launcher, striking Whitsey, who fled into the house, prompting SWAT and K9 units to respond to the scene to negotiate with the suspect, police said.
Whitsey came out of the house about 5 p.m. and officers deployed a K-9 that bit the suspect, police said.
He was taken into custody and to a hospital for medical treatment.
Whitsey was booked for suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer and the firearm that he allegedly used was recovered by officers and booked into evidence, police said.
The use-of-force investigation continued, according to police.
Whitsey remained in custody in lieu of just under $2 million bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which reported him to be 54 years old.
