Fatal police shooting shuts down 10 Freeway in both directions in East L.A.

Monterey Park police officers shot and killed a man in a gun battle Friday morning on the 10 Freeway in East Los Angeles, shutting down traffic in both directions and causing a major traffic backup, authorities said.

Police tried to pull over a white BMW they said was linked to a March 14 robbery in Los Angeles when the suspect began to shoot at officers, prompting the fatal interaction. The incident began shortly after 10 a.m.

When officers attempted to pull the driver over, he fled, and a police pursuit began, authorities said. Police pursued the vehicle westbound on the 10 Freeway from Atlantic Boulevard to around Campus Road.

Police work near the scene where a body lies under a tarp on the 710 Freeway southbound onramp. Monterey police officers fatally shot a man on the nearby 10 Freeway.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The suspect began to shoot at officers with a semiautomatic handgun from inside his vehicle, according to Sgt. Arlene Chaidez with the Monterey Park Police Department. The driver’s car became disabled near the center divider of the freeway, and the suspect got out and tried to run away, still firing at officers, she said.

Three Monterey Park officers fired back at the suspect and struck him, Chaidez said. Police provided aid to the man until paramedics with the Los Angeles County Fire Department arrived, but he died at the scene, according to police.

There was no timeframe for when the 10 Freeway would reopen, authorities said.

Detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are investigating the shooting. The Monterey Park Police Department is leading the investigation.