Wounded LA police officer recovering after surgery

Saturday December 07, 2002

LOS ANGELES (AP) A police officer shot in the shoulder when he tried to stop a man carrying a shotgun was in good condition and recovering on Saturday, police said.

The injured officer, whose name was not released, underwent surgery after being wounded Friday in Koreatown, said Officer Jason Lee, a police spokesman.

``He's going to be fine,'' Lee said.

Police arrested David Young, 47, on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer. He was being held on $1 million bail.

The wounded officer is a 6{-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department and assigned to the Rampart station. His parents were at the hospital.

He was the second Southern California law enforcement officer shot in seven days. Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy David Powell, 42, was killed Nov. 30 while trying to get into a house where a shooting suspect had fled in suburban Artesia.

``I think this country is still failing to realize that guns are too easy to obtain and we have a horrific body count and we just won't face up to it,'' said LAPD Chief William Bratton, who became chief a month ago and is dealing with a serious rise in violence.

The wounded LAPD officer was one of two who responded to a call Friday of a man walking with a shotgun and ordered him to drop the weapon.

When the man did not comply, other units and a helicopter were called.

They trailed him for nearly seven blocks before he opened fire, hitting the officer in the shoulder, said Officer Jack Richter, a department spokesman.

The man was then swarmed and subdued by other officers.

Cmdr. Gary Brennan called the actions of the officers heroic.

``The officers put themselves at risk rather than put pedestrians at risk,'' he said.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)