2 Officers, 1 Suspect Hurt in Watts Shootout

Two Los Angeles police officers were wounded early Sunday in a shootout in Watts that left one suspected gunman, believed to be a gang member, severely wounded.

The suspect, Javier Vieyra, 19, was reportedly near death Sunday at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center with a bullet wound to the head -- apparently shot by one of the two Los Angeles Police Department officers, who were also transported to a hospital.

Neither of the officers, Jose Zumudio, 35, and Tim Colson received life-threatening injuries. Zumudio was struck by buckshot pellets in the legs, face and a hand, and he remained hospitalized Sunday. Colson, who was grazed by pellets in the forehead and hand, was treated and released.

Police said Colson and Zumudio, both gang officers assigned to the LAPD’s Southeast station, were patrolling near the intersection of Wilmington Avenue and East 107th Street late Saturday when they saw a group of young men, whom they identified as gang members, loitering on the street.

The two officers detained the men, searched them and arrested one who was in possession of a handgun, said Det. Jesse Bazan, who gave an account of the incident.

About an hour later, the two officers circled the same block and found some of the previous group still loitering -- this time sitting in a car with the passenger door open. As the officers pulled up, several men got out of the car and moved quickly toward the police officers. Suspects pulled out at least one shotgun and opened fire.

Both officers fired back, each caught in a gun battle with a different suspect. Vieyra fell to the ground. Other suspects ran. Colson pursued his attacker on foot before losing him; Zumudio, who was more seriously hurt, remained behind.

LAPD officials quickly sealed off a crime scene spanning many blocks. Several high-ranking LAPD officials, including Police Chief William J. Bratton, set up a large command post a few blocks from the scene, and several hundred officers were called in to search for additional suspects.

One man was arrested quickly near the scene, police said; a second suspect, a 25-year-old parolee, was found hiding in a trash bin some hours later. Two guns -- a shotgun and a pistol, according to early reports -- were recovered. Neither of the suspects had been charged as of early Sunday morning.

LAPD South Bureau Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger said he believed the attack was at least the 15th this year in which officers in South Los Angeles have come under fire.

Attacks on officers have been a growing concern to Bratton, who held a news conference earlier this month to call attention to the problem. He said gun assaults on officers were up by at least one quarter this year over last year.

It was the third time in about a month that LAPD officers in the Watts area had been shot at in an unprovoked attack. In two other recent incidents, both in the Nickerson Gardens housing projects, suspects shot toward officers but did not hit them.

The attacks come in a period in which such assaults have been in the spotlight. In recent weeks, a Burbank police officer was killed by a suspect who fired at him, and a group of undercover officers from the LAPD’s Hollenbeck Division came under fire but were not hurt.

Some Southeast Division officers said they were concerned by the brazenness of Sunday’s assault, and those which preceded it. Some suggested that more aggressive police tactics in South Los Angeles might be prompting counterattacks.

Sgt. Terry Fathauer of the LAPD’s 77th Street Division said that officers’ injuries were more minor than those that might have resulted had different weapons and ammunition been used. “By the grace of God, no one was hurt,” he said.

The incident would not affect officers’ outlook toward their South Bureau jobs, he predicted.

“Officers who work down here understand the threats, and they deal with the threats. This is not going to change anyone’s point of view,” he said.