Downey officer shot to death in police parking lot

Investigators are still trying to determine a motive but it appeared Galvez was targeted, Corina said.

The officer was wearing street clothes, not his uniform, when the shooting occurred at 11 p.m. Wednesday in the west parking lot of the Downey Police station in the 11000 block of Brookshire Avenue. “Ricky, a five-year police officer with the Downey Police Department, was a remarkable young man”.

A Downey police officer was found fatally shot while sitting inside his personal vehicle in the police station’s parking lot, officials said early Thursday.

Lt. John Corina of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told The Los Angeles Times “it appears the officer was targeted”, and the attack does not “look like it was random”.

Galvez’s killing comes at a time of heightened tension for police officers across the country in the wake of protests in Ferguson and elsewhere. Investigators said they arrested the getaway driver and other people were detained after SWAT officers swept surrounding neighbourhoods.

Detectives reviewed surveillance video as part of their investigation, Corina said.

Corina says Galvez was in plainclothes in his personal auto in a public parking lot next to police headquarters when he was shot.

“Ricky was an outstanding person, (an) outstanding police officer”, McDaniel said.

The Davie Police Department is looking for a 3-year-old who went missing, Thursday.

The suspects were not aware that Galvez was a police officer because he was in plain clothes. A fellow Downey police officer heard the gunshots and chased the suspects to a neighboring city, where the suspects bailed on foot. Corina said three men got out of the auto and fled.

A Nissan Altima at the scene in Montebello is believed to be the suspect’s vehicle, officials said.

Downey, a city of roughly 114,000 people, is about 10 miles southeast of Los Angeles. In total, 101 officers have died so far this year from other causes, traffic injuries and gunfire, in line with the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Police evacuated buildings and homes as they searched for suspects.