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Law Enforcement News
Bonin Hires Private Security for Westchester Office
Councilmember Mike Bonin has hired a private security firm to guard his office in Westchester. According to multiple sources, GSG Protective Services of Culver City has been employed since January to protect Bonin's office five days a week. Debra Huston, a nearby resident, said she walked to Bonin's office on Wednesday after learning about the private security. "The front door was locked when I arrived. After getting the security guard's attention, I asked why there was security. He [the security guard] said it was because of the homeless. I wasn't sure I heard him right– so I asked again. He reiterated and motioned to the homeless encampments outside Bonin's office door."
LAPPL Statement on Bonin's Hypocritical Move to Hire Private Security to Protect Office from Homeless Encampments
“Mike Bonin’s latest flip flop is another example of his hypocrisy and how out of touch he is on homelessness and the unlawful encampments that have overtaken large portions of the Westside,” said Craig Lally, President of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.
Man Shot To Death At RV Encampment In Lincoln Heights
Officials with the Los Angeles Police Department said a man was shot to death in Lincoln Heights overnight. The shooting was reported just after 3 a.m. Thursday at an RV encampment adjacent to the LA River, near the intersection of North Avenue 18 and Pasadena Avenue. Witnesses said they heard people arguing before gunshots rang out, prompting them to contact authorities. They also heard a car driving away after the shooting. Arriving LAPD officers found a man at the scene suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Paramedics attempted lifesaving efforts. However, he was declared dead at the scene. A description of the suspect was not immediately available. Anyone with information is asked to contact the LAPD. 
Student Shot Outside Grant High School In Valley Glen
A student was shot outside Grant High School in Valley Glen on Wednesday afternoon, authorities confirmed. Officers responded at 3:24 p.m. to the 13000 block of Oxnard Street, said Officer Rosario Cervantes, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson. The shooting occurred on the perimeter in front of the campus, said Los Angeles School Police Chief Leslie Ramirez. It was “believed to be gang-related,” according to a tweet from the LAPD. A male student was shot and is being treated for his injuries, Ramirez said. He was stable at the time he was transported to a hospital. Officers from the LAPD and the L.A. School Police Department are at the scene and assisting with a coordinated school dismissal, Ramirez said. The campus remained on lockdown as of about 4:30 p.m., according to a tweet from school police. “Detectives from both agencies are on scene and the investigation is ongoing,” Ramirez said. “We are still gathering information regarding possible suspect description.”
Trial Set To Begin For Eric Holder Jr., Man Accused Of Fatally Shooting Nipsey Hussle In 2019
After more than three years, the man accused of fatally shooting beloved Los Angeles-area rapper and entrepreneur Nipsey Hussle is finally set to go on trial. Slated to begin at 9 a.m. Thursday morning, Eric Holder Jr. faces charges in relation to a 2019 shooting which left Hussle dead and two other men wounded. The shooting took place on March 31, 2019, outside of Hussle's clothing store, The Marathon Clothing, on Crenshaw Boulevard. Holder, now 32-years-old, fled the scene after the shooting, which reportedly took place following a brief verbal confrontation involving the two parties, during which Hussle is said to have called Holder a "snitch." Hussle suffered 11 gunshot wounds. Authorities were finally able to locate Holder two days after the shooting following a large scale manhunt, which came to an end after the woman who drove the vehicle that Holder used to flee from the scene turned herself in. Now, following a series of delays thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, Holder is finally set to sit in front of a jury. The total length of the trial is expected to last up to four weeks. He faces one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Woman Arrested For Allegedly Stealing Car With Baby Inside In South LA
A woman has been arrested for allegedly trying to steal a mother's SUV in South Los Angeles with her baby still inside, authorities said. According to police, the mother was driving near 110th Street and Wilmington Avenue in her Toyota RAV4 when she stopped due to a flat tire. As she got out to check on it, the woman - who has not been identified - jumped into the SUV and took off, according to police. The baby was in the backseat. That's when the mother immediately called police and was able to monitor her vehicle's location through her cell phone, which was inside the SUV. After a few hours, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department along with the Los Angeles Police Department were able to track the vehicle down in the city of Bell. The vehicle with the baby inside was left abandoned near Fishburn Avenue and Randolph Street where the child was found safe. "The child and mother were reunited at Southeast Station, and we are glad to report the child was in good spirits and unharmed," said LAPD in a statement. Witnesses were able to point out the suspect's location, according to police.
Officers Engaged In Standoff With Suspect On Roof In South Los Angeles
Authorities were engaged in a standoff with a man in South Los Angeles Wednesday morning. The man, the subject of a warrant of some sort, fled from officers onto the roofs of several residences in the 81st Street and McKinley Avenue area. As a result, Los Angeles Police Department officers established a perimeter around the homes as they monitored the situation. At around 8:59 a.m., after some time jumping between roofs and acting in an agitated manner, the man climbed into some trees near an electrical pole. 
Help Needed To Solve 2016 Killing Of Teen As She Left Church Function In Lynwood
Authorities and family members are asking the public for help Thursday in their search for whoever fatally shot a 16-year-old girl as she sat in the backseat of her mother’s car in Lynwood several years ago. The shooting took place on Nov. 16, 2016, near the intersection of Long Beach Boulevard and Euclid Avenue as the victim was leaving a church function. Investigators determined the gunman was chasing an unrelated person and fired several rounds when that person exited a vehicle and fled south across Euclid Avenue. The shooter missed the intended target and instead struck the car Danah Rojo-Rivas was in, fatally wounding her. The suspects fled the scene immediately following the shooting and the intended targets were not found after abandoning their vehicle, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department stated after the shooting. Homicide detectives believe there are still witnesses that can provide information in the case and are holding a news conference Thursday to ask the public to come forward with any information. A $20,000 reward is being offered in the case, according to the Sheriff’s Department. Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
Man Who Was Missing In North Hollywood Found
A Silver Alert issued on behalf of an 82-year-old man reported missing after last being seen in North Hollywood was deactivated when the man was found, police said Thursday. Jose Rivera Lopez was last seen about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Victory Boulevard, according to the California Highway Patrol. The CHP, which issued the Silver Alert, reported that Lopez was found just after 3:30 a.m. No further information was available. A Silver Alert is activated when an elderly, developmentally or cognitively impaired person has gone missing and is determined to be at-risk to provide immediate information to the public to aid in the swift recovery of the at-risk person.
Copycat Threats At Local High Schools Put Police On High Alert
In the aftermath of the Uvalde, Texas school shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead, police have come to expect copycat incidents across the U.S. Schools across the country have seen threats go up this week. That includes right here in Southern California. In Baldwin Park, a student was arrested after Sierra Vista High School received an email with an exclusive threat about explosive devices on campus. Police brought in the K9s that are trained to detect explosives but didn't find anything. Detectives were working to identify the sender of that email when on Tuesday another email was sent against the school. Working together with the FBI, Baldwin Park police arrested the suspect who they say is a student at the school. Meanwhile in Santa Ana, police have determined that it was a former employee who made threats against Mater Dei High School, a private Catholic school. In conjunction with the Diocese of Orange County, the decision was made to shut down the school for this week as Santa Ana police continue to investigate.
Chicago Cop Shot, Critically Wounded After Driver Fires Into Her Cruiser
A Chicago police officer was taken to a hospital in critical condition Wednesday after she was shot while attempting to make a traffic stop on the city's South Side, authorities said. In a news conference at the University of Chicago Medical Center, police Supt. David Brown said that at 5:42 p.m. two uniformed officers were in a marked squad car attempting a traffic stop in the West Englewood neighborhood. The car the officers were trying to pull over first sped up, and then slowed down to pull even with the squad car, Brown said. At that point, someone in the car started firing a gun at the officers. The officer who was driving was shot and wounded in her upper body, Brown said. The officer who had been in the passenger seat drove the wounded officer to the hospital. The wounded officer was in critical but stable condition, Brown said. Her name hasn't been released. The suspects' vehicle crashed nearby and suspects fled from it, police said. They remained at large Wednesday night. Mayor Lori Lightfoot issued a statement Wednesday night saying she has asked Brown “to use every resource possible to find the person responsible for this attempted murder of a police officer and bring them to justice.”
Police: Gunman Who Killed 4 At Tulsa Medical Building Linked To Bomb Threat
A bomb threat in Muskogee called in by Tulsa police was linked to a mass shooting that took place in Tulsa earlier in the day, police said. Tulsa police alerted Muskogee police at approximately 6:30 p.m. that there was the possibility of a bomb in a home on Park Place North. Muskogee police secured the area, and other law enforcement agencies also began to arrive. Tulsa Police Department called in the threat believing it was connected to the shooting in a medical building at the Saint Francis Hospital Tulsa campus in which five people were killed, including the shooter. Authorities said the suspect, whose name was not released, died from a self-inflected gunshot wound. Tulsa PD Deputy Chief Eric Dangleish said the gunman carried a handgun and a rifle during the attack in the medical building, and it was unclear what prompted the deadly assault. Tulsa Police Lt. Demetrios Treantafeles said the shooter may have lived in the house on Park Place North. "It is a possible residence," Treantafeles said. "Two ladies were evacuated from the residence, but we do not know their connection to the suspect."
Public Safety News
4 Pets Killed After Fire Breaks Out In East Hollywood Pet Business
Two cats and two dogs were killed after a fire broke out at an East Hollywood pet business. "It's really sad," said witness Marie McCune. "It's really sad." The Los Angeles Fire Department said that the fire broke out at about 6:15 p.m. at "Pet Joy" located on the 800 block of N. Virgil Avenue. While 38 firefighters were able to extinguish the fire in 25 minutes, four pets — two cats and two dogs — died. Firefighters rescued another 12 pets from the building. The eight dogs and three cats were exposed to smoke and were being treated with oxygen masks. "After the fire was knocked down we quickly removed nine K9s and three felines," said LAFD Battalion Chief Tim Lambert. "[We] transitioned to giving resuscitative measures to these animals." The Department of Animal Services was en route to provide additional care and support. No humans were injured. 
Vacant Building Fire In Lynwood Quickly Handled By LACoFD Crews
Firefighters quickly contained a fire that broke out at an abandoned building in Lynwood Wednesday morning. The blaze was first reported just after 3 a.m. on Wright Road near Cortland Street, but was knocked down a short time later by units on hand. Los Angeles County Fire Department crews were still working to determine cause of the fire. No injuries were reported.
COVID Hospitalizations Top 500 In Los Angeles County
The number of COVID-19-positive patients in Los Angeles County hospitals rose above 500, according to the latest data, continuing an upward trend on the heels of a weeks-long spike in infections. According to state figures, there were 502 COVID-positive patients hospitalized in the county as of Wednesday, up from 479 a day earlier. It’s the highest hospitalization number since mid-March. The number of those patients being treated in intensive care was 53 on Wednesday, down from 54 on Tuesday. Health officials have noted that most people with COVID in county hospitals were actually admitted for a reason other than the virus, with many not realizing they were infected until they were tested upon admission. But county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said last week that even if patients were admitted for another reason, their COVID infections mean hospitals must take more intensive protective measures while they are being treated.
Local Government News
L.A. City Council Seeks To Ban Homeless Encampments Near Every School, Daycare Center
The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday instructed its lawyers to draft a major change to the city’s anticamping ordinance, barring homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and daycare centers. The council voted 13-2 to draft legal language that would expand its anticamping law to cover hundreds, possibly thousands, of educational facilities. Councilmembers made the decision after hearing from parents of children at Virgil Middle School and from Alberto M. Carvalho, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, about incidents involving homeless people immediately outside campuses. Carvalho, appearing at the council meeting in person, urged members to approve the measure, saying students have been witnessing behavior that threatens to cause trauma and to harm cognitive development. “I’ve seen elementary schools with conditions that none of us as parents would find acceptable for our children: individuals with mental illness, some of them absolutely unclothed, shouting profanities to the listening ear of children,” he said.
LA City Council To Consider Ban On Flavored Tobacco, Except For Hookah Lounges
The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday will consider banning the sale of flavored tobacco in Los Angeles, with an exception for hookah lounges that meet certain conditions. In June of last year, the council directed the city attorney to draft an ordinance to ban flavored tobacco and menthol cigarette sales in the city, but exempted hookah tobacco products at existing lounges. The council’s Arts, Parks, Health, Education and Neighborhoods Committee advanced the ordinance with some amendments on March 8, and the City Council approved further revisions on March 30. The latest draft of the ordinance will be considered by the City Council during its 10 a.m. meeting. It requires unanimous approval and will be revisited next week if it falls short. Next week, the ordinance would require a simple majority to pass. “Over 100 cities and counties in California have already implemented bans on flavored tobacco products. This is not by any stretch of the imagination a radical concept,” Councilman Mitch O’Farrell said on March 30. O’Farrell said that several family members have died from smoking-related illnesses, including one of his sisters, who began smoking when she was 12 years old.