Authorities identify man suspected of shooting 2 sheriffs deputies in Bellflower

BELLFLOWER >> Two sheriffs deputies were shot late Thursday after a series of gun battles with a man who fled a DUI checkpoint, and was eventually arrested after a SWAT team fired tear gas into a home where the gunman was holding a hostage.

Juan Martinez, 39, was arrested on Friday moing and booked on multiple charges of attempted murder on a peace officer and kidnapping a civilian.

The two injured male deputies, who were not named, underwent surgery after being transported to Long Beach Memorial. One deputy was listed in stable but critical condition, and the other was shot in the upper torso and was also listed in critical but stable condition, Sheriff’s spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said Friday afteoon.

The civilian hostage, an adult man, was unharmed. Martinez was also unharmed.

The chaotic scene began at about 10:50 p.m. at a DUI checkpoint on Lakewood Boulevard.

A motorcycle deputy pulled over the suspect in the 16600 block of Lisa Avenue, deputies said. The gunman then got out of his vehicle with a firearm and “fired several rounds at the deputy, striking him multiple times,” a sheriff’s statement said. The deputy fired back at the suspect, who fled the scene on foot.

As a second set of deputies responded to the shots fired, the suspect shot at them, hitting one, sheriff’s deputies said. A third group of deputies began pursuing the gunman, who fired shots at them before ruing out of view.

The gunman at some point ran into a home in the 9000 block of Mayne Street and took a man hostage. Martinez was taken into custody following a standoff with a sheriff’s SWAT team, which fired tear gas into the home.

The hostage was freed by the SWAT team, McDoell said.

As many as 40 patrol cars, in addition to the SWAT, were called to the scene. The search for the gunman stretched from Lakewood Boulevard between Alondra Boulevard and Flower Street, north of the 91 Freeway, deputies said.

Martinez is being held in the Los Angeles County Jail system on $10 million bail, sheriff’s said.

Anyone with information on the shooting can contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

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