Police Say L.A. Area Officer Ambushed and Shot to Death May Have Been Targeted

Police say that an officer from a Los Angeles suburban police department who was ambushed and shot to death as he sat in his car in the department’s parking lot may have been targeted.

Officer Ricardo “Ricky” Galvez of the Downey police department was sitting in his car at about 11 PM on Wednesday night when someone walked up to his car and opened fire.

Officer Galvez was nearing the end of his shift Wednesday night when he was attacked by two gunmen, according to the L.A. Times.

The attack was called “very brazen,” and on Thursday morning Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. John Corina said, “It appears that this officer was targeted.”

After a car chase followed by a foot chase, police arrested two suspects in the town of Montebello shortly after midnight. Police are also searching for a possible third suspect.

Downey Police Chief Carl Charles said that Galvez was a “tremendous young man, who loved serving the residents of Downey.” The officer was also a U.S. Marine twice deployed to Afghanistan.

The city of Downey is about 10 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

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