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Razorguns
Well-known member
Welcome to LA. Good lord, it's getting f'n ridiculous around here...:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-042204copshot_lat,1,2867542.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Police Say CHP Officer Was Teen's Random Target
Detectives arrest a suspect in the case early today. Police say he lives both in Fontana and Pomona.
Photos
CHP Officer Is Fatally Shot in a Drive-By April 22, 2004 Times Headlines
A veteran CHP officer who was fatally gunned down in front of the Pomona courthouse was the randomly chosen target of a 16-year-old boy intent on "killing a cop," the Pomona police chief said this morning.
Detectives arrested a suspect in the case, who lives both in Fontana and Pomona, early today.
Authorities believe the suspect did not know the officer and just happened across him during a hunt for a police officer to shoot. Because the suspect is a juvenile, officials would offer few details about the case.
"It's clear he wanted to kill a cop, but not this particular cop," said Police Chief James M. Lewis at a press conference this morning.
The shooting took place moments after the officer, Thomas Steiner, 35, had testified in a series of minor traffic cases, authorities said.
Steiner was struck repeatedly in the attack and suffered one gunshot wound to the head, authorities said. The five-year CHP veteran died at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center.
"I'm very, very saddened, but I'm mad," said D.O. "Spike" Helmick, CHP commissioner. "It made absolutely no sense."
Steiner, a 1999 police academy graduate and the father of two, worked out of the CHP's Santa Fe Springs station. Steiner's wife was among those who held vigil at the hospital Wednesday evening, and his mother was flown in by helicopter from her home in Orange County.
The CHP and the Pomona Police Department had launched a manhunt for the killer that went through the night. A vehicle fitting the description of the car was found near the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Pomona in a truck yard.
Steiner, in uniform, was shot about 2:50 p.m. as he walked to his patrol car. He was 200 feet from the courthouse steps and was preparing to cross 7th Street to a parking lot when a red car rolled to a stop nearby, witnesses said.
A man with a shaved head stepped out from behind the wheel, raised a handgun and fired four shots, striking Steiner three times. The gunman stepped back into the car and sped away, witnesses told police.
CHP Assistant Chief Art Acevedo said Steiner had testified in five traffic citations in Division One of the former municipal courthouse.
The gunfire caused confusion at the Civic Center complex, which includes two courthouses and the Pomona Police Department. Some courtrooms were locked. Others said they did not realize anything had happened.
"People did hear shots, but they didn't think anything about it," said a prosecutor, who asked not to be identified.
"You just don't think about things like that happening so close to home.... People are still trying to figure out what happened."
Acevedo knew the slain officer personally and said that he had been a well-respected lawman, an expert marksman and a loyal sports fan.
Steiner lived in Long Beach and was wearing the dark blue jumpsuit of a CHP special detail officer. He enforced transportation laws, and his duty vehicle was a white Camaro, said CHP Assistant Chief Chris Madigan.
Officials said Steiner had a 3-year-old son and a 13-year-old stepson.
Outside the courthouse Wednesday night, dozens of officers picked over the parking lot for clues. Steiner's jumpsuit and shirt were in bloody tatters lying on the entrance to the driveway, his badge and name tag in view.
Helmick said Wednesday's shooting comes at a time when police agencies throughout the state have seen officers killed or injured by gunmen. "Every year, we have officers killed. In the last week and a half, we've had four officers — in Watsonville, San Francisco and Merced — shot at point-blank range.... It's very, very disheartening. These young people that have their whole lives ahead of them."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-042204copshot_lat,1,2867542.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Police Say CHP Officer Was Teen's Random Target
Detectives arrest a suspect in the case early today. Police say he lives both in Fontana and Pomona.
Photos
CHP Officer Is Fatally Shot in a Drive-By April 22, 2004 Times Headlines
A veteran CHP officer who was fatally gunned down in front of the Pomona courthouse was the randomly chosen target of a 16-year-old boy intent on "killing a cop," the Pomona police chief said this morning.
Detectives arrested a suspect in the case, who lives both in Fontana and Pomona, early today.
Authorities believe the suspect did not know the officer and just happened across him during a hunt for a police officer to shoot. Because the suspect is a juvenile, officials would offer few details about the case.
"It's clear he wanted to kill a cop, but not this particular cop," said Police Chief James M. Lewis at a press conference this morning.
The shooting took place moments after the officer, Thomas Steiner, 35, had testified in a series of minor traffic cases, authorities said.
Steiner was struck repeatedly in the attack and suffered one gunshot wound to the head, authorities said. The five-year CHP veteran died at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center.
"I'm very, very saddened, but I'm mad," said D.O. "Spike" Helmick, CHP commissioner. "It made absolutely no sense."
Steiner, a 1999 police academy graduate and the father of two, worked out of the CHP's Santa Fe Springs station. Steiner's wife was among those who held vigil at the hospital Wednesday evening, and his mother was flown in by helicopter from her home in Orange County.
The CHP and the Pomona Police Department had launched a manhunt for the killer that went through the night. A vehicle fitting the description of the car was found near the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Pomona in a truck yard.
Steiner, in uniform, was shot about 2:50 p.m. as he walked to his patrol car. He was 200 feet from the courthouse steps and was preparing to cross 7th Street to a parking lot when a red car rolled to a stop nearby, witnesses said.
A man with a shaved head stepped out from behind the wheel, raised a handgun and fired four shots, striking Steiner three times. The gunman stepped back into the car and sped away, witnesses told police.
CHP Assistant Chief Art Acevedo said Steiner had testified in five traffic citations in Division One of the former municipal courthouse.
The gunfire caused confusion at the Civic Center complex, which includes two courthouses and the Pomona Police Department. Some courtrooms were locked. Others said they did not realize anything had happened.
"People did hear shots, but they didn't think anything about it," said a prosecutor, who asked not to be identified.
"You just don't think about things like that happening so close to home.... People are still trying to figure out what happened."
Acevedo knew the slain officer personally and said that he had been a well-respected lawman, an expert marksman and a loyal sports fan.
Steiner lived in Long Beach and was wearing the dark blue jumpsuit of a CHP special detail officer. He enforced transportation laws, and his duty vehicle was a white Camaro, said CHP Assistant Chief Chris Madigan.
Officials said Steiner had a 3-year-old son and a 13-year-old stepson.
Outside the courthouse Wednesday night, dozens of officers picked over the parking lot for clues. Steiner's jumpsuit and shirt were in bloody tatters lying on the entrance to the driveway, his badge and name tag in view.
Helmick said Wednesday's shooting comes at a time when police agencies throughout the state have seen officers killed or injured by gunmen. "Every year, we have officers killed. In the last week and a half, we've had four officers — in Watsonville, San Francisco and Merced — shot at point-blank range.... It's very, very disheartening. These young people that have their whole lives ahead of them."
