The LA County Sheriff's SWAT team are in a standoff with a carjacking suspect who could be linked to the Compton gunman who shot two deputies in the head at the weekend, according to several law enforcement sources.
A huge search is currently underway in a residential area of Lynwood where residents have been on lockdown for more than eight hours after an armed carjacker who led cops on a high speed chase Tuesday is thought to be connected to the ambush that left the LA cops fighting for their lives in hospital.
Two officers - 31-year-old Claudia Apolinar and her 24-year-old male colleague – were shot multiple times as they sat inside their patrol car outside the Metro Blue Line station at Willowbrook Avenue and Oak Street Saturday night.
Shocking surveillance footage captured the moment the black male suspect strolled up to the police cruiser and gunned the officers down at close range before fleeing the scene on foot.
Both officers survived and are said to be in a stable condition in hospital while a massive manhunt is underway for the gunman, who authorities said is between the ages of 28 and 30.
The LA County Sheriff's SWAT team are in a standoff with a carjacking suspect who could be linked to the Compton gunman who shot two deputies in the head at the weekend, according to several law enforcement sources. Pictured the scene of the carjacking
An armed carjacker who led cops on a high speed chase through the Lynwood area of Compton Tuesday is said to be connected to the ambush on LA deputies
Authorities are increasingly confident that the suspected carjacker involved in a police chase Tuesday and now thought to be hiding out in a Lynwood home was involved in Saturday's attack on the deputies, law enforcement sources told NBC Los Angeles.
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has repeatedly denied any connection between the carjacking suspect and the gunman.
Villanueva, who challenged LeBron James to match a reward to find the suspect earlier this week, told several media outlets Tuesday the two incidents were unrelated and the search was for a carjacker.
However he provided no further details about the carjacker and there was a massive police presence in the area, including the bomb squad and two sheriff's helicopters.
Multiple sources confirmed to NBC the male suspect is wanted in connection with the weekend ambush but the sheriff's department is not yet ready to provide details to the public.
Deputy Juanita Navarro-Suarez told City News Service he could not confirm whether the suspect was connected to the attack on her colleagues.
'At this time, it's just a carjacking suspect, but it's really important that we apprehend him and ID him to see if there's any nexus with the ambush,' she said.
Aerial footage showed multiple police cars continued to be on the scene as darkness fell, while the suspect's vehicle could be seen abandoned in the road
A huge search is underway in Lynwood for the armed suspect who was allegedly driving a light blue Toyota coupe and led cops on a chase
Authorities are increasingly confident the carjacker involved in a police chase Tuesday and now thought to be hiding out in a Lynwood home was involved in Saturday's attack on the deputies, law enforcement sources told NBC Los Angeles
A huge search is underway in Lynwood for the armed suspect who was allegedly driving a light blue Toyota coupe through the residential area.
LA County Sheriff's Department deputies were in hot pursuit of the vehicle, which the driver then crashed along the 3100 block of Carlin Avenue.
Police sources said the driver fled from the vehicle into a nearby home or condo.
Officers evacuated people out of the area as the SWAT team prepared to search nearby homes for the suspect.
Aerial footage showed multiple police cars continued to be on the scene as darkness fell, while the suspect's vehicle could be seen abandoned in the road.
Residents reported on social media being locked down in their homes for eight hours, as of around 10 p.m. Tuesday.
It is not clear what initially led to the chase and no further details have yet been released.
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has repeatedly denied any connection between the carjacking suspect and the gunman but provided no further details about the carjacker
The investigation has so far focused on two prominent Compton street gangs, sources said. SWAT teams search homes in the area Tuesday
Police are searching for two main suspects involved in Saturday's ambush - the gunman and a suspected getaway driver who was seen driving the gunman away from the scene in a dark Mercedes.
The investigation has so far focused on two prominent Compton street gangs, sources said.
It was previously suggested that the shooting was a revenge attack for one of the spate of recent deaths of black men and women at the hands of cops across America.
Apolinar, a mother of a six-year-old, and her colleague each sustained multiple gunshot wounds in Saturday's attack.
The two cops - who both graduated from the Los Angeles Police Academy last year - both underwent surgery and are now in a stable condition.
Video released by cops showed the suspect approaching an LACSD vehicle parked outside the Metro Blue Line station and opening fire before he fled.
Despite taking multiple bullets – one to the face and several to her upper torso – Apolinar managed to get her partner to safety, apply a tourniquet and radio for help.
A photo of the aftermath of the attack shows Apolinar covered in blood, giving medical help to her injured partner who was also struck in the head.
Video released by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department shows the moment that male suspect opened fire on two deputies at a Compton bus station before fleeing on foot
FOX11 obtained a photo (above) of the female deputy, who was described as a 31-year-old mother of a six-year-old boy, covered in blood after she was shot in the jaw helping her colleague in the Saturday shooting
A harrowing dispatch call reveals a shaky voice called in the shooting, muttering: '998 Compton Pax.'
Recognizing the code for a deputy-involved shooting, a dispatcher asks: 'Just happened?'
The voice replies, almost unintelligibly, 'Compton Pax, deputies down. Compton Pax 998.'
The suspect, meanwhile, is described as a black male between 28 and 30 years old.
He was wearing dark clothing at the time of the shooting and was last seen in a black four-door sedan.
Fox News reporter William la Jeunesse said Monday: 'Los Angeles police will not say this publicly - but some believe this ambush was retaliation for some recent police shootings of black suspects in LA.'
On August 31 black man Dijon Kizzee was shot and killed by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies after he was stopped for a traffic violation while riding a bike.
Claudia Apolinar, 31, was identified as one of the gunned down officers. She graduated from the Police Academy last year
At the beginning of this month the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors also voted to ask the coroner to conduct an inquest into the fatal deputy shooting of 18-year-old Andres Guardado on June 18.
Thousands have taken to the streets demanding justice and calling for an end to police brutality and racism since May following the 'murder' of black man George Floyd by a Minneapolis cop who knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes until he passed out and died.
Floyd's death reignited outrage over the death of EMT Breonna Taylor, 26, who was shot eight times while sleeping in her bed when three plain clothes officers performed a no-knock arrest warrant at her Louisville apartment on March 13.
In June, unarmed father Rayshard Brooks was shot dead while he ran away from cops in the drive-thru of a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta.
On August 23, Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by a white cop in front of his three young children, leaving the father-of-six paralyzed from the waist down.
A week later on August 30, Dijon Kizzee, 29, was gunned down in the street by LA cops who allegedly shot him 20 times and then handcuffed his dead body after trying to pull him over for an alleged bicycle code violation.
In early September, footage was released by the family of Daniel Prude, 41, showing cops in Rochester, New York, putting a spit hood over his face and pushing his face into the ground for two minutes until he passed out and died on March 23.
The Monroe County medical examiner listed the manner of death as homicide caused by 'complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint' but no charges have been brought against any of the cops.
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