Two Los Angeles police officers are in a critical condition after being shot outside a Metro station in Compton, around 7 p.m. in what police are calling an ambush.
Video footage of the incident shows a figure approach the officers’ vehicle, before opening fire and running away.
Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva called the act “cowardly”. The suspect remains at large.
Disgracefully, protesters alleged to be supporters of Black Lives Matter shouted anti-police slogans and blocked the entrance to the emergency room where the two officers are being treated, police and witnesses said.
The officers involved have not been named, but have been described as a 31-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man.
“One male deputy and one female deputy were ambushed as they sat in their patrol vehicle. Both sustained multiple gunshot wounds and are in critical condition. They are both currently undergoing surgery. The suspect is still at large,” LA County Sheriffs tweeted.
Sheriff Villanueva said he was angered to see two deputies attacked as they were doing their job to protect train passengers.
“Seeing somebody just walk up and just start shooting them, it pisses me off,” he said. “It dismays me at the same time. There’s no prettier way to say it.”
