California police officer killed, another injured after investigating accident

A police officer was killed and another injured when they went to investigate a traffic accident in Whittier, California.

A gang member paroled from jail only days ago shot and killed a Whittier police officer who was answering a report of a traffic accident, and wounded his partner today before being wounded himself, authorities said.

Authorities say a parolee who allegedly shot and killed a Whittier policeman had slain another man and stolen his car only hours earlier.

Veteran Officer Keith Boyer was shot and his partner, Patrick Hazel, was wounded around 8am in the Los Angeles suburb.

Whittier Police Chief Jeff Piper wept as he recalled his friend, a 25-year veteran.

The suspect also was wounded in the resulting shootout. His name hasn't been released. He and Hazel are expected to live.

The officers had answered a report of a traffic accident.

One motorist pointed out the location of the car that had rear-ended his vehicle, and the officers approached the driver, Corina said at an afternoon news conference.They arrived at an intersection in the eastern Los Angeles suburb around 8am, but they didn't realise a car that had struck two others at a stoplight was reported stolen, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. John Corina said.

"When they get him out of the car, they go to pat him down for weapons, they can see he's got tattoos all over his face and all over his neck," Corina said.

The man then pulled a semi-automatic handgun and opened fire at the officers, who were wearing bulletproof vests and shot back, Corina said.

One of the officers was pronounced dead at a hospital. The other officer and the alleged gunman were hospitalised in stable condition, Corina said.

Their names were not immediately released.

The 26-year-old suspect is a known gang member who had been paroled about 10 days earlier, Corina said.

After the shooting, a long line of police cars escorted the slain officer's body from a hospital in Irvine to the coroner's office. Mourners placed candles and flowers outside police headquarters.

The Whittier Police Department has about 125 sworn officers who police Whittier and Santa Fe Springs in southeastern Los Angeles County.

The department has had two other officers killed in the line of duty: a detective in 1979 and a corporal in 1977.