Memorial grows for 2 officers killed in El Monte shootout
EL MONTE, Calif. - A community is grieving and a memorial continues to grow outside the El Monte Police Department after two officers were killed in a shooting on Tuesday night.
UPDATE: El Monte officers killed in shootout near motel identified
Investigators said the two officers were ambushed after responding to a call near the Siesta Inn near Garvey and Central avenues Monday evening. City officials said in a press release when the officers arrived at the scene, the gunman opened fire, and two officers were struck by the bullets.
The two officers were rushed to the LAC +USC Medical Center where they died from their injuries sustained in the shooting. Authorities said the suspect was killed at the scene.
After 11 p.m Monday, a police procession for the fallen officer from the hospital to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. Several agencies in surrounding cities showed their support and joined the procession.
RELATED: 2 El Monte police officers killed by 'coward,' interim chief says
The names of the officers have not been released, only revealing one of the officers was a 22-year veteran of the force and the other had been with the department for less than a year.
The coroner’s office says they were two men in their 30s and 40s; the suspect was a man in his 30s.
El Monte interim Police Chief Ben Lowry called the officers heroes.
"These two men were loved," Lowry said. "They were good men. They paid the ultimate sacrifice, serving their community trying to help somebody."
"Today, they were murdered by a coward and we are grieving, and that hurts," he said.
El Monte Mayor Jessica Ancona said the officers died "while trying to keep a family safe." Meyer said investigators were interviewing a woman from the hotel who they believe was the suspect’s girlfriend. She wasn’t stabbed, he said.
The killings came just one day after a California Highway Patrol officer was shot and critically wounded during a traffic stop in Studio City.
The 27-year-old officer was shot several times. He was in critical but stable condition at a hospital but was expected to recover, the CHP said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.