An off-duty Los Angeles police officer was shot and killed during a robbery on Monday as he was house hunting with his girlfriend, officials said.
The officer was identified by the Los Angeles Police Department as Fernando Arroyos, 27. He was a three-year veteran of the force, assigned to the Olympic Division.
The shooting unfolded Monday evening in the 1700 block of East 87th Street in unincorporated Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which is leading the investigation, said.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore told members of the Board of Police Commissioners Tuesday that Arroyos was killed during a gunfight with 3 men who tried to rob him.
The police officer had been looking at a home to buy with his girlfriend when the couple was approached by the alleged robbers, two of whom opened fire, detectives told NBC Los Angeles.
Arroyos told his girlfriend to run and exchanged gunfire with the suspects, but was struck, they said.
Moore told board members the officer had a “bright future” that was “taken away” in a street robbery.
Deputies responded to the scene at 9:16 p.m. following a report about an assault with a deadly weapon and a gunshot victim, and found Arroyos “lying unresponsive” in the alley suffering at least one gunshot wound, the sheriff’s office said.
He was transported to Saint Francis Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
Five adults — three males and two females — have been detained the investigation, but none have been charged with the murder, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office. Their names were not released.
The sheriff’s office said it also received a report of a second man suffering from a gunshot wound found a few miles from the original shooting scene, who was transported to a local hospital and treated for his injuries.
“It is yet to be determined if that individual, or that shooting incident, are related to this incident,” the sheriff’s office said.
On Tuesday, Mayor Eric Garcetti paid tribute to Arroyos at a news conference on an unrelated matter.
“This man died a hero trying to defend himself and his girlfriend,” he said.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500 or report tips anonymously at “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477).