Cops killed while responding to alleged motel stabbing

A pair of police officers were killed in a shootout as they responded to an alleged stabbing inside a motel in southern California, according to authorities.

The El Monte officers, a veteran of more than 22 years and a rookie with less than a year on the job, were investigating reports of violence at the Siesta Inn in El Monte when the deadly confrontation unfolded just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday. They were almost immediately met with gunfire as they “confronted the suspect”’ inside a room at the motel, Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide Capt. Andrew Meyer said at a news conference Tuesday night.

Meyer told reporters the shooter then fled to the parking lot, where more gunfire was exchanged. He added that he was unsure whether the two officers and the suspect, all three of them struck in the chaos, were shot inside or outside the building.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, while the officers were rushed to L.A. County-USC Medical Center, where they died a short time later. They have not been identified.

El Monte Mayor Jessica Ancona hailed the officers as heroes, noting that they gave their lives “while trying to keep a family safe.” She added an investigation is underway to what occurred inside the motel room before the gunfire broke out. Authorities are currently interviewing a woman from the scene who they believe was the suspect’s girlfriend.

She had not been stabbed.

“These two men were loved,” El Monte interim Police Chief Ben Lowry. “They were good men. They paid the ultimate sacrifice, serving their community trying to help somebody.”

Lowry continued: “Today, they were murdered by a coward and we are grieving and that hurts.”

With News Wire Services