Officers Confronted by Armed Suspect

May 5, 2008

Los Angeles: Gang Enforcement Officers responded to a shooting call and were confronted by an armed suspect.

On May 2, 2008, at around 11:05 p.m., Officers from the Newton Area Gang Enforcement Detail (GED) were called to a residence in the 1400 block of East 23rd Street to investigate a radio call of a shooting that had just occurred. A victim met the officers as they arrived and told them that the suspect had fired a handgun at him and was still inside a residence, located next door to the victims. Officers were able to determine that they were dealing with a felony, assault with a deadly weapon, suspect.

Police Officer Eric Rose, and his partner, Officer Kevin Raines, along with additional GED officers formulated a plan to enter the residence to search for the suspect who had refused to come out. Rose and Raines entered the residence and encountered the suspect, Marco Gomez, 31 years of age, who had armed himself with a semi-automatic pistol. It was during this encounter that an officer involved shooting occurred and Gomez was shot.

Paramedics responded and pronounced Gomez dead at scene.

Gomez’ semi-automatic was recovered at scene.

Officer Rose has been with the department for 8 years and Officer Raines for 6 years.

Force Investigation Division personnel responded and are investigating the shooting.