$80,000 offered for leads in shooting of school officer near El Camino High
Los Angeles officials announced Thursday that they will be offering an $80,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the gunman who wounded a school police officer in Woodland Hills, sparking a massive hunt that shut down a seven-square-mile swath of the west San Fernando Valley and left more than 9,000 students locked for hours in their classrooms.
The officer, eight-year Los Angeles school police veteran Jeff Stenroos, was shot in the 5500 block of Manton Avenue adjacent to El Camino Real High School on Wednesday morning by a white man in his 40s with a thin build and graying hair pulled into a ponytail.
A composite sketch of the man was released Thursday afternoon and investigators said they believe someone in the area of the shooting will recognize him and urged them to contact police.
"We suspect he is a local," LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said of the gunman.
Officials also introduced the Good Samaritan who helped the fallen officer by using his police radio to make an "officer needs help" call to emergency dispatchers. Michael Brodey, a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, also assisted Stenroos as they waited for help to arrive.
"What I did yesterday is just what I'm trained to do," said Brodey. He said that training aided him in helping other victims in emergencies, including giving a choking woman in a restaurant the Heimlich maneuver and providing first aid to a worker who had been struck by a vehicle on Mulholland Drive.
At the urging of police, Brodey did not elaborate on what he saw and heard before, during or after the shooting or describe what brought him to the area.
--Andrew Blankstein
EDITOR'S PICKS:
$80,000 offered in reward here, but nothing for the dozens of murders in poorer communities. What a joke.
Posted by: Hakatau | January 20, 2011 at 07:28 PM
Would the reward be the same if it were a student, teacher or other school employee shot? And actually killed?
Would the reward be the same for the exact same happening but, say, south of the Santa Monica Freeway? Or east of the Harbor?
Posted by: Carol | January 20, 2011 at 07:50 PM
Hakatau
You or I can put up all the money you want for whatever crime information you or I want. It's still a free country.
Or we could just cry about it too.....go ahead and cry, I won't stop you.
Posted by: u know | January 20, 2011 at 08:08 PM
Why is everyone complaining about the reward money? He should be caught and although it sounds like a lot of money, it costs less to give the reward to someone than to have many officers working the case. Besides, anyone willing to shoot a cop is a bigger danger to everyone else. We're lucky it was an officer wearing a vest and not a high school student or teacher trying to stop someone from breaking into his car.
Posted by: John | January 20, 2011 at 08:11 PM
I wonder where the $80k is coming from? I hope it's from the police union and/or the officers themselves, and not from the taxpayer. The police would never show this kind of force and dedication to an ordinary citizen victimized in similar fashion.
Posted by: Common sense | January 20, 2011 at 08:15 PM
Exactly, this reward is only being offered because it is a police officer. Those in uniform are more important than the rest of us.
Posted by: LAUSD teacher | January 20, 2011 at 08:25 PM
If someone tipped off the police in a gang murder of an innocent bystander the cops wouldn't give them a penny. Not only that, they wouldn't even protect them from the revenge of the gang. No wonder so many murders go unsolved. This wasn't even a murder and they're offering 80,000 dollars of our money to solve it because they can't.
Posted by: glenn grab | January 20, 2011 at 09:02 PM
strange that I need licensing, insurance and registration every year to drive a car, but nothing at all when I buy a gun in most places. Cars kill ppl too, although guns are designed to kill. thanks, NRA. no thanks, DMV.
Posted by: mike | January 20, 2011 at 09:29 PM
why don,t you twisted winers pool you cash and offer rewards for the other victems, cuse you people be sick twisted looser
Posted by: ok jay | January 20, 2011 at 09:33 PM
hi carol when you haves d=some real initive you finds out and tell all the peeps
Posted by: ok jay | January 20, 2011 at 09:35 PM
I don't think a cop's life is more valuable than someone else's life. But cops are the last line between order and lawlessness. If it's OK to shoot cops with impunity, then we're all in deep trouble.
Posted by: mikeohara | January 20, 2011 at 10:00 PM
This is a prime example of what ObamaCare is going to bring on the people.
Posted by: theCanimalsHusband | January 20, 2011 at 10:25 PM
My god. Will you people complaining about the reward get a friggin life! There are rewards offered for community members who are the victs of crime all the time. Jeez grow up.
Posted by: john | January 20, 2011 at 10:41 PM
OMG, THE SHOOTER WAS STEVEN SEAGAL!
Posted by: Sammy | January 20, 2011 at 10:43 PM
I cant wait till they catch him!!! Keep these
DANGEROUS HEARTLESS MEN away from
our NEXT GENERATION our PRECIOUS
little CHILDREN and thanks to all the OFFICERS
who PROTECT THEM!!!
Posted by: BLUEWATER | January 20, 2011 at 11:54 PM
Mike, that's a lie, and you know it.
It takes valid identification, such as an ID or Driver's License to buy a gun. A background check is also performed at the time of purchase. Proof of residence is also required to buy a handgun.
Posted by: Alan | January 21, 2011 at 02:36 AM
If this were in the hood, it wouldn't be in the news at all!!!!
Posted by: Recovered | January 21, 2011 at 05:07 AM
To bad it takes a reward of $80,000 as an incentive to for someone to DO WHAT'S RIGHT!
Posted by: impoundguy, Los Angeles, Ca. | January 21, 2011 at 07:46 AM
Someone needs to step in an stop this clown show. Abusing out tax dollars and laughing in our faces locking down schools, making kids piss on themselves and starve to wander out at night like zombies to find a way home. The ridiculous amount of money being offered..and the chief asking for more saying he would match it??? WITH MORE? I'm sorry to say, I'm sort of starting to feel compassion for the bad guy here. These animals find dead people all day, and don't care and and don't offer anything nor do they make media photo ops, and act like they care. More proof this guys are like a gang, they kill others, take money and only care about their own. Don't ever dial 911 again.... ever-
Posted by: Montana Gold- | January 21, 2011 at 09:18 AM
Some of you ignorant people are literally speaking out of your behinds... What are you talking about? Rewards are offered ALL THE TIME and in the "poorer communities". A quick search of this very website produced 2 headlines of rewards offered since Christmas! And both in "poor neighborhoods".
•"Teen shot to death while riding bike in South L.A. - $50,000 reward offered"
•"Reward to be offered for information in fatal shooting of young mother on Christmas Day"
How about getting your facts straight you morons and then showing some appreciation for the police who put their lives on the line for you sorry and unappreciative people every day!
Posted by: Get Real | January 21, 2011 at 10:46 AM
I don't understand why people would complain about a reward being offered...there when a victim is killed, just like the mother of the 3 year old in "the hood", was murdered. The city council offered a 50k reward to capture this womans killer. So I don't think it should matter if its a police officer or an innocent victim. It this will help bring justice to the families of these victims then so be it! These suspects keep terrorizing innocent people from speaking up...
Posted by: watch the news | January 21, 2011 at 02:20 PM