LOS ANGELES, CA – Four men were taken into custody after a late-night pursuit that ended in an officer-involved shooting in the Florence-Graham area of South Los Angeles on Friday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
LAPD officers were sent at about 10:50 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, to a report of a man with a rifle near Central Avenue and 96th Street, according to initial reports. The shooting itself took place near 96th Street and Pace Avenue, the department said.
The LAPD said no suspects were struck by gunfire and no officers or community members were injured by it. Two officers in a patrol car were hurt in a traffic crash while responding and were taken to a hospital in stable condition.
A tactical alert was issued during the search and SWAT was called in. The alert was deactivated once all four men were in custody.
Officers see man with a rifle near Avalon and Century
According to the LAPD, officers near Avalon Boulevard and Century Boulevard saw a male suspect standing outside a vehicle, armed with a rifle. The officers made a U-turn to investigate.
The man got into the vehicle, which had three other people inside, and the car drove away. Officers chased it.
Pursuit ends near 96th Street and Pace Avenue
Near 96th Street and Pace Avenue, in the Florence-Graham area, the driver stopped abruptly, the LAPD said. That is where the officer-involved shooting occurred.
The department said the four occupants got out of the vehicle and at least one person shot at the officers, who returned fire. Police said no suspects were struck.
Two occupants flee on foot
Two of the occupants ran from the scene immediately after the shooting. The other two stayed with the vehicle and were taken into custody without incident, according to the LAPD.
Officers set up a perimeter, and with the help of LAPD K-9 units the two who fled were located and taken into custody. By about 3 a.m. Saturday, two of the men were in custody and two were still outstanding, according to initial reports.
SWAT was brought in for the search, the LAPD said. The tactical alert was lifted when the last of the four was detained.
Two officers hurt in patrol car crash
Two officers responding to the incident were involved in a traffic crash in a patrol car. Both were taken to a hospital, where the LAPD said they were in stable condition.
The department described the officers’ injuries as resulting from the crash, not from gunfire. It did not say where the collision happened or what caused it.
Two rifles and a handgun recovered
Officers recovered two rifles and a handgun, and all three weapons were booked as evidence, according to the LAPD. The department has not said which of the four men, if any, had each weapon.
An arrest is not a conviction, and any allegations against the four men remain subject to the criminal court process.
How officer-involved shootings are investigated
The LAPD said its Force Investigation Division is investigating the shooting. According to the department’s page on the investigation and oversight of officer-involved shootings, that division investigates all LAPD deadly-force incidents.
The same page says the Board of Police Commissioners decides whether an officer-involved shooting was in or out of policy. It also says the Inspector General’s staff responds to every officer-involved shooting and that the District Attorney determines whether to file criminal charges against officers.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office reviews officer-involved shootings and keeps a public page of 2026 officer-involved shootings. The page states that “if an officer’s use of force is determined to be within the law, a detailed memorandum is prepared and posted below.”
The page lists 24 officer-involved shooting incidents for 2026, covering January through August. Ten were fatal and 14 were nonfatal.
Pursuit records published by the LAPD
The department publishes a facts page on vehicle pursuits. A Board of Police Commissioners report on LAPD pursuits covers Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 31, 2022, plus the year to date through March 30, 2023.
The report counts 4,203 pursuits in that period. Of those, 1,592 ended in a traffic collision, and 1,032, or 25 percent, ended in a collision with injury or death.
Names and charges not released
The LAPD had not released the names or ages of the four men or the charges they face. It had not said whether any of them has a prior connection to the report of a man with a rifle.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Los Angeles Police Department.
Force Investigation Division probe continues
The Force Investigation Division’s investigation into the shooting remains active. The review of whether the officers’ actions complied with policy and the law is still ahead, and no charging decision for the four men had been announced.
