Gunman remains on loose after killing off-duty LAPD officer

Gunman remains on loose in death of LAPD officer

The search continued Monday night for the shooter or shooters involved in the murder of a young officer gunned down outside a taco stand in Lincoln Heights over the weekend.

LOS ANGELES - The search continued Monday night for the shooter or shooters involved in the murder of a young officer gunned down outside a taco stand in Lincoln Heights over the weekend.

Los Angeles Police spokesman Josh Rubenstein stated the department was treating the shooting death of Officer Juan Diaz as an on-duty investigation because of the origin of an incident that escalated near 26th Avenue and Artesian Plaza. 

According to police, just before 1 a.m. on July 27, Diaz was having dinner with his girlfriend and her two brothers at the taco stand when Diaz spoke to a man allegedly spray painting a building. 

The conversation prompted a group of men to approach the 24-year-old Officer moments later, making threats and one of them showing a gun in his waistband. 

To deescalate the situation, Diaz and his family walked back to his car when a person or persons walked up and shot him. 

Another victim was shot and underwent surgery. 

The taco stand is a popular spot in the community. People travel from other parts of the city to get a bite to eat. 

The incident made some people, including Michael Lau feel unsafe knowing Diaz was randomly targeted and not in uniform. 

“I mean if a police officer can die like that then, I mean I come here quite frequently too so there’s nothing that would make me any different than him,” Lau said. 

Adrian Castaneda shared the same sentiment. 

“My friend just told me, if I actually wanted to get some tacos today. And I’m like ‘yeah I’m down’ and then my brother told me ‘just be careful because it might happen again’ so you basically never know what might happen.”

As of Monday night, there was no suspect information available to the public.