According to the LAPD. the two officers were conducting a routine traffic stop for a possible DUI on July 3. Anastassia Olmos reports for NBC4 News at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, July 19, 2024.
The Los Angeles Police Department released video Friday of a fully automatic rifle attack on two officers during a traffic stop in Willowbrook.
The more than 11-minute video, including dashcam and body-worn camera footage, captured some of the events that followed the July 3 traffic stop in the southern Los Angeles County community.
At about 9 p.m. that night, officers pulled a driver suspect of DUI over near Broadway and Rosecrans Avenue, but before officers got out of the patrol vehicle, a barrage of rounds were fired from the suspect's' Chevrolet sedan, police said.
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Authorities later determined the rounds were fired from a fully automatic AR-style rifle, a self-loading rifle that continuously chambers and fires rounds when the trigger is held down. The officers' in-car camera captured the harrowing sound of rapid gunfire coming from the sedan and striking the patrol vehicle.
One officer can be heard asking, "What'd he hit us with, dude?"
One officer was struck by two rounds, resulting in graze wounds to the head. Both officers suffered cuts from shattered glass fragments from the patrol vehicle windshield. Several rifle casings from the fully automatic weapon were recovered at the location of the traffic stop, police said.
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The driver left the scene. Officers attempted to chase down the car, but lost sight a few blocks later.
The suspect was arrested July 12.
Malcolm Darnell Guss Jr. was charged this week in the shooting. He faces one count of attempted murder of a peace officer; two counts of assault with a machine gun upon a peace officer; one count of shooting at an occupied motor vehicle; one count of possession of a machine gun; and two counts of possession of firearm by a felon.
Guss was arraigned Friday and pleaded not guilty to all charges. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for July 29,
Bond was set at $2 million. If convicted, Guss faces up to life in prison.
It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney.
“The heinous attack on two law enforcement officers in what should have been a routine traffic stop is absolutely horrific,” LA County District Attorney Gascón said. “This unprovoked attack is a stark reminder of the dangers our law enforcement officers confront. This act of violence is not only an assault on the officers, but also on the values of safety and justice of our community. Our thoughts and prayers are with officers Stefan Carutasu and Joshua Rodney, and the Los Angeles Police Department during this time.”
