Los Angeles police officers investigate a shooting in South Central Los Angles on Monday, Dec. 29, 2014. A man fired a rifle at two Los Angeles officers in a patrol car on Sunday night but no one was injured in the attack that comes amid tension nationwide between police and protesters rallying against their tactics. LAPD spokeswoman Officer Nuria Venegas said Monday that one man was under arrest and a second suspect was being sought in the shooting in an area of the city ridden with gangs and crime and heavily patrolled by police. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)LOS ANGELES (AP) Two men opened fire on a police car patrolling a tough part of Los Angeles, but the two officers inside were not injured and one was able to shoot back, authorities said Monday. One of the suspects was later arrested and the other is on the loose.
The shooting occurred amid heightened tensions over attacks on police elsewhere in the country after grand juries declined to indict white officers in the killings of unarmed black men.
Police have not yet determined a motive for the Sunday night shooting in South Los Angeles an area plagued by gang violence but said there were no indications it was linked to other attacks on police in the country.
“It was a complete unprovoked attack,” LAPD Deputy Chief Bob Green said initially. “They were just driving on the street, and somebody struck out and tried to kill two policemen.”
However, Green later said police also were looking into whether the officers might have driven into an ongoing incident and were inadvertently fired at.