Los Angeles: Undercover officer Erik Armstrong and his partner investigating narcotic sales outside of a methadone clinic, faced with an armed suspect, resulted in an officer involved shooting.
On May 19, 2007, at about 6:15 PM, officers were in the area of Hill and 32nd Street. They saw several narcotic transactions in front of the clinic involving multiple suspects. As the officers attempted to detain the suspects, they separated and ran in different directions. One of the suspects ran south on Hill Street and tried to crawl under a parked van. The officers caught the suspect next to the van, at which time the suspect pulled out a handgun and confronted the officers. Officer Armstrong fired five rounds striking Ball.
The suspect was taken to California Hospital for medical treatment, but died a short time later. He has been identified as Ronald Ball, 60, of Los Angeles. Ball’s 9mm semi-automatic handgun was recovered under the van.
Involved officer is Detective Erik Armstrong, 34, 10 years and 3 months with the Department. Both officers were assigned to the Newton Area Narcotics Enforcement Detail.
None of the officers were injured. Force investigation responded to conduct the investigation
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