Newton: Bullets fly, and a 187 suspect is arrested

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Very early this morning--5 a.m. on Thursday, May 17--gang officers from LAPD’s Newton station were on theporch of this house with rosebushes. They were serving a search warrant in connection to the killing of Johnny Bridges last week (see Homicide Report post).

Streetlights reflected off the pavement. The officers called the people in the house, knocked, made announcements, waited--to no avail. Two officers got out a big hook--used to wrench open metal mesh ‘ghetto doors’--while the other officer stood guard. They set to work on the door.

Det. Dennis Fanning was watching from the east side of the house. All at once, he heard gunshots and saw the three officers on the porch drop into a crouch in unison. The gunfire must be coming from inside of the house, he thought.

The officers scuttled off the porch, taking cover to the side. Other officers repositioned themselves, and demanded that the occupants come out. A tense 30 seconds passed. Then, the door to the house slowly opened. A Latino man walked out with his hands up. Two others followed, then an elderly woman. One of the men, 20, was taken into custody on suspicion of murdering Bridges--and shooting out of the house at officers. A gun was seized.

Afterward, Fanning and other officers inspected the bullet holes: One in a wall, one in a neighboring house, and one through the middle of the front door, where a bullet had whizzed within inches of the officers.