A Downey, Calif., police officer was fatally shot while sitting in his personal vehicle in the Downey Police HQ parking lot, and after an initial investigation, authorities believe he may have been targeted.
The officer, identified as Ricardo "Ricky" Galvez, was sitting in the driver's seat of his car a little after 11 p.m. Wednesday, when two male suspects ran up and opened fire, Lt. John Corina said, according to the Associated Press.
The two men entered a vehicle after the shooting and fled, he said.
Another officer, who was nearby at the time of the shooting, heard the shots and followed the suspects' vehicle, but they abandoned it and fled near Washington Boulevard and Carob Way.
Detectives have launched an investigation and are reviewing surveillance videos while trying to determine what led to the shooting, reported the Los Angeles Times. In the meantime, investigators have executed several warrants and intend to search homes and the pursuit route for the weapon.
Corina also added that three men and two women have been detained thus far, as the search for the two suspects continues.
It's unclear if there were any threats made against Galvez prior to the shooting, but Corina said investigators believe the shooters knew the officer and he was targeted, according to KTLA 5.
"It's pretty brazen," Corina said. "These people obviously, for whatever reason, were targeting this officer, or appears to be targeting this officer. In that they were that brazen, that they weren't afraid to attack him in the back of the police station, thinking they can get away with that."
An officer dying in the line of duty is a rare event in Downey. The last time such an incident occurred was in 1981, when a speeding driver hit an officer as he was getting back onto his motorcycle.
