Suspect in CHP officer's shooting has PTSD, family says
LOS ANGELES - The suspect accused of shooting a California Highway Patrol officer multiple times during an altercation at a traffic stop in Studio City has post traumatic stress, according to his family members.
Pejhmaun Khosroabadi, 33, was arrested shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday, CHP Officer Wes Haver of the agency's West Valley Area office told City News Service.
A 4-year-old bloodhound with the Los Angeles Police Department's K-9 unit tracked Khosroabadi to a tent in a homeless encampment at Gloria Avenue and Cantlay Street where he had been hiding, according to reports from the scene.
The shooting occurred just before 7:55 p.m. Monday in the 4500 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Studio City, one block south of the Ventura (101) Freeway, according to the LAPD.
The officer had conducted a traffic stop on a white Ford Fusion and an altercation ensued, according to authorities.
"During the altercation, the suspect produced a firearm and fired several rounds, striking our officer multiple times," Haver told reporters. "The suspect fled the scene."
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Piper, the LAPD canine, tracked Khosroabadi's scent from a Haskell Avenue apartment building where a standoff involving SWAT officers occurred early Tuesday morning.
Police searched the area for a white Ford Fusion with Oregon plates in connection with the shooting, KCAL9 reported. Police later found a Fusion outside the apartment complex that matched the description. Officers later located him at the homeless encampment.
According to news reports, officers obtained a search warrant for the tent and recovered a gun and a cell phone.
Police credited Piper for the arrest.
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"Bloodhounds are very loving dogs. So the handler gives the dog a lot of love. Each time we get a find, we get the dog a cheeseburger," said LAPD Sgt. Desi Ehrlich.
The 27-year-old officer, who has less than one year of service with the CHP, is hospitalized in serious but stable condition and is expected to recover, according to the agency.
Khosroabadi's family say he is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps who fought in Afghanistan and suffers from PTSD.
" When he came back he was so traumatized," said Shamaya Shayesteh, a cousin of Khosroabadi.
His brother, Robert Thompson-Khosroabadi, said Khosroabadi recently lost two members of his unit to suicide and the family has been trying to get him psychological
counseling for months.
Five members of his unit were killed in action, which deeply affected him, they said.
Thompson-Khosroabadi told news outlets that his family offers the wounded CHP officer "our deepest sympathies and prayers and Godspeed for a speedy recovery."
Khosroabadi was booked in the Van Nuys Jail, with bail set at $10 million.