Categoria: LAPD

Woman Shot By LAPD Officers Near Silver Lake Homeless Camp Dies At Hospital

SILVER LAKE — A woman allegedly armed with a pellet gun was shot and killed by Los Angeles Police Department officers at a homeless encampment in the Silver Lake area.

The shooting occurred about 8 p.m. Wednesday near Sliver Lake Boulevard and the Temple Street overcrossing, the LAPD reported.

The woman, in her 40s, died at a hospital, police said. Information on her identity was not immediately available.

According to police, officers went to the location, on a report that a woman was “armed with a revolver and pointed it at a passerby.”

“When officers arrived on scene, they encountered the suspect … who produced a handgun and pointed it in the officers’ direction, at which point an officer-involved shooting occurred,” police said in a statement. “A CO2-powered revolver BB/Pellet Gun was recovered at (the) scene.”

No officers were injured. The area where the woman was shot by officers is the site of a large homeless encampment.

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3 People Hospitalized After LAPD Pursuit Ends In Crash

Three people were hospitalized after a pursuit of a stolen vehicle in South Los Angeles ended in a crash on Thursday, Feb. 16, according to police.

Officers with the 77th Division of the LAPD began chasing a stolen vehicle Thursday night, according to an officer with LAPD South Traffic Division.

At the intersection of South San Pedro Street and Gage Avenue, the vehicle crashed into another vehicle that was not involved in the pursuit, injuring an innocent driver. Three people, including two suspects and the innocent driver, were transported to a local hospital in unknown condition. The area was shut down as officers investigated the crash.

LAPD would not confirm Thursday night if officers were in pursuit of the vehicle or in tracking mode.

It marked the second time in 24 hours that a pursuit crash seriously injured at least one person. Early Thursday morning, an innocent 19-year-old driver was killed in a crash that stemmed from the pursuit of armed robbery suspects in Northridge.

Emily Holshouser | Reporter Emily Holshouser is a Los Angeles-based reporter who came to California from North Carolina in 2018. Emily began her career at the Cal State Northridge Daily Sundial, where she covered cops, protests, and utilities. She previously worked at ABC7 as an assignment desk editor and video journalist. In her time as a reporter, Emily has covered the George Floyd protests, Trump rallies in Beverly Hills, incarceration, and Los Angeles education. In addition to journalism, Emily also loves video games and Taylor Swift.

It’s Finals Season For Police-Trained Bloodhounds, Top Dogs At Sniffing

This week police bloodhounds from across America gather in Los Angeles to put their noses to the test in the National Police Blood Hound Association certification exam.

Passing the exam is an annual requirement for both newbie and veteran police hounds.

Doing so is no simple feat. Bloodhounds and their trainers must undergo a 40-hour, four-day course of rigorous testing to demonstrate a hound’s ability to rescue victims and follow scent trails across complex landscapes.

This year about 20 hounds from a dozen different law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department, are participating in the event unfolding in Granada Hills, Van Nuys, and Downtown Los Angeles and ending on Thursday, Feb. 9.

Claremont K9 police officer Matt Morales’ dog Drew during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Merced County Sheriff’s Deputy Curtis Rouse’s K-9 Vito, a Polish Gonczy Polski dog, alerts on Cass County Sheriff’s K9 Deputy Tiffany Graves during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Merced County Sheriff’s Deputy Curtis Rouse’s and K-9 Vito, a Polish Gonczy Polski dog, during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Riverside Police Department K9 Ruger is rewarded after a successful training exercise during at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023 during the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Cass County Sheriff’s K9 Deputy Tiffany Graves with her bloodhound during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Merced County Sheriff’s Sergeant Dustin Witt and K-9 Banshee during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Claremont K9 police officer Matt Morales and his dog Drew during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Claremont K9 police officer Matt Morales’ dog Drew during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Cass County Sheriff’s K9 Deputy Tiffany Graves with her bloodhound during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Merced County Sheriff’s Sergeant Dustin Witt and K-9 Banshee during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Police forces use a variety of dog breeds to assist in tracking scents, because their sense of smell is about 2,000 times stronger than that of humans, said Los Angeles Police Department officer and bloodhound trainer Josh Leon.

However, when it comes to sniffing skills, bloodhounds are first in class.

Their nasal cavity is six to seven inches long and filled with a mucus membrane that traps scents, Leon said. Even their characteristic droopy faces and drool serves a purposes — it ensures that smells stick to them and don’t dissipate with time.

Bloodhounds are also fiercely determined.

“They will track until they literally die,” said Leon. “You have to physically pull them off of the track, which is another reason why we use bloodhounds to trail.”

Bloodhounds are one of the only dog breeds that can pick up a scent track that is more than 24 hours old, and are they able to scent discriminate between different people on a single track.

“They’re really amazing,” said Leon, “so it’s pretty incredible to watch them.”

This week’s certificate exam drew police from LAPD, Arcadia, La Verne, Grants Pass, and other cities; and from sheriff’s departments in Riverside and Orange counties and other jurisdictions.

The National Police Bloodhound Association ensures that hounds are properly trained to carry out their police duties. According to the association, no trainer of a certified hound has been proven wrong in court for his or her use of a hound.

Clara Harter | Reporter Clara covers LAUSD for the LA Daily News in addition to writing about housing policy, homelessness and mental health. She formerly worked as the Torrance/Carson reporter for the Daily Breeze and as a city hall reporter for the Santa Monica Daily Press. She has a B.A. in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies from Columbia University.