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View Winners → Top Posts Apr 28, 2021
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On Wednesday, authorities released the name of a Los Angeles double murder suspect who died in a shootout with police in Fullerton after a chase and standoff.
Carlos Lopez, 50, of Los Angeles died at the scene of the shootout that occurred about 5 a.m. Tuesday on the westbound Riverside (91) Freeway near Raymond Avenue. Officers in police vehicles had blocked in the suspect’s white Jeep Cherokee around an hour earlier.
Lopez was suspected of shooting three men, two fatally, early Tuesday morning, according to Lt. Raul Jovel of the Los Angeles Police Department.
“These appear to be random acts of violence … we have no idea what precipitated this,” Jovel said at a news conference near where the pursuit ended. “We’ll be going back to the suspect’s home, talking to family members, trying to figure out what led to these acts of violence.”
The sequence of events began about 1 a.m. Tuesday, when a man was shot and wounded in the downtown Los Angeles area. The wounded man, who was expected to survive, gave authorities a description of the suspect’s vehicle, Jovel said.
About 25 minutes later, 24-year-old Alexis Carbajal was shot and killed while sitting in his car near Figueroa and 28th streets, according to Jovel. Family members told reporters at the scene that Carbajal, a newlywed, was in a drive-thru line at Starbucks with his wife, who wasn’t injured.
A GoFundMe account established to help Carbajal’s family had raised more than $18,500 as of Wednesday morning.
About 15 minutes after Carbajal was shot, a man driving a Cadillac Escalade was fatally wounded near Seventh and Figueroa streets, Jovel said. Mingzhi Zhu, 42, of South Pasadena was an Uber driver who was stopped at a red light.
“The senseless acts of violence that took the lives of two innocent people, including Mr. Mingzhi Zhu who was on his way to pick up a rider, is heartbreaking,” Uber said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with those who lost their lives and their families.”
A GoFundMe account established to help Zhu’s family had raised nearly $60,000 by Wednesday morning.
In the aftermath of the shootings, “officers quickly discovered that it was the same shooting suspect description — a male in a white Cherokee … (and) that information was immediately put out … to all patrol units,” Jovel said.
Patrolling officers saw the vehicle and began chasing it about 1:45 a.m., he said.
The pursuit, often at slow speeds, traveled along the Pomona (60) and Orange (57) freeways before coming to an end about 4 a.m. on the westbound 91 Freeway at the Raymond Avenue overcrossing, where officers deployed spike strips, damaging the SUV’s tires and forcing it to stop.
Two law enforcement vehicles boxed in the suspect’s SUV, and a standoff ensued, Jovel said.
“SWAT officers arrived, and they initiated the normal procedures to negotiate with the suspect,” Jovel said. “They attempted to talk to him several times. At one point, they tried to have the suspect talk to a family member. That was unsuccessful …”
Jovel said officers had used information from the SUV’s license plate, and went to the home of the registered owner, where a family member of the suspect was contacted, leading to an effort by police to have the relative talk to Lopez.
“At one point, the suspect fired at the officers, (which) resulted in an officer-involved shooting,” Jovel said. “The suspect was hit by gunfire and was pronounced dead at scene by the local fire department.”
The 91 Freeway through Fullerton was closed in both directions for hours while an investigation was conducted. The eastbound lanes were reopened about 9 a.m. Tuesday, and the westbound lanes reopened about six hours later.
