Officer-Involved Shooting of Armed Suspect

Los Angeles: A man who pointed a gun at police was injured Tuesday during an officer involved shooting in the Exposition Park Area of Los Angeles.

On August 21, 2006, around 5:00 p.m., Southwest Area Gang Enforcement Detail (GED) officers were conducting a gang investigation when they were confronted by a gunman in the 1100 block of Exposition Boulevard.

Officers surrounded the residence and placed themselves along side the building.  Officer Anthony Ariaz and his partner were standing to the rear when the gunman (later identified as Benjamin Smith) jumped out of a window holding a handgun.  Smith ran through a parking area toward Officer Ariaz.  After ordering Smith to drop the handgun, he refused and pointed the handgun at Officer Ariaz.

Officer Ariaz fired resulting in an officer involved shooting.  Smith continued running toward an adjacent parking area when he turned and again pointed the handgun at Ariaz, resulting in a second shooting.

Smith was seen climbing over a wall and was discovered seconds later lying face down with the handgun beside him. 

Smith was taken into custody and was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital where he was treated for a gunshot wound to his right kneecap.  He was later booked at County USC Medial Center for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

Officers recovered a 9mm handgun at the scene.

Police Officer Anthony Ariaz, 35, has been with the Los Angeles Police Department for 11 years.

The Los Angeles Police Department's Force Investigation Division is handling the investigation.  Any questions may be directed to Media Relations Section at 213-485-3586.

Comments

[ToddP]

Looks like this shooting happened in Southwest Division. I think Southwest is one of the hardest ares in Los Angeles to work. For the LAPD, it seems like the more south you go, the more difficult and anti-police people become. You could be the nicest, most caring person in the world, but once people see that police uniform, they automatically hate you. On top of that, Southwest is one of the worst divisions to work, because of the poor supervision at that division. Now this is a division where the supervisors do not have your back, nor do they care about the Officers that work there. Its no wonder why the transfer list for Southwest does not have anyone on it, as opposed to Southeast or 77th. Those 2 divisions are just as difficult, but it seems like everyone wants to work there. Hmmm, I wonder what the difference is??? Supervisors make a huge impact, and Southwest supervisors will leave their officers hanging. So in saying this, I hope Officer Ariaz the best, and even though it looks like your shooting was within all legal constraints, be aware of Southwest leaving you out to dry. Good luck from a Former SW Division officer.

[LEO]

I thought LAPD wasn't publishing he names of Officers involved in shootings?

What happened LT?

[Lt. De La Torre]

Leo, good question. Department policy was modified by the police commission on the advise of the City Attorney's office in April 2006. An officer's name could be released via a press release, but names are redacted from the final official report.

[J Q Public]

Good work hitting the guy in the kneecap. Evidently, marksmanship training should continued to be a valued asset.

LT, I do have a question for you. What is the point of redacting officer's names from "final official report[s]"? This is especially puzzling given the fact that the officer's name(s) is/are disclosed via press release soon after the incident has occurred?

Also, am I correct in assuming that the "final official report(s)" are a matter of public record?

[steve]

Wow South west division having bad supervision. It keeps being said that the leaders on the department are becoming out of touch with the persons they are leading. They just don't get it. If They leave their officers hanging then the officers are going to leave this city hanging. They will leave for better pastures where they are treated with respect and fairly.