VAN NUYS - Police on Monday continued their investigation into the possibility of a second suspect involved in a weekend shooting that forced an LAPD helicopter into making an emergency landing
Danny Lopez, 18, was booked Sunday on suspicion of attempted murder on a police officer, said Los Angeles police Detective Gus Villanueva. He was being held on $1 million bond.
Police said Lopez, a Van Nuys resident, was distraught over a friend's death and fired a rifle round at an LAPD helicopter early Sunday morning. But officers would not say Monday if he intended to hit the chopper.
The A-Star American Eurocopter was hit by a round from a high-powered rifle just after 6 a.m. over Saticoy Street and Densmore Avenue, causing it to lose power, police said.
After a bullet pierced the helicopter's tail, the pilot landed at Van Nuys Airport. In the meantime, Lopez's relatives subdued him and held him for police, authorities said.
No one in the helicopter was injured as it made an "auto-rotation" landing on the apron at a charter jet service, Clay Lacy Aviation, on the airport's east side. An auto-rotation landing means the pilot was able to steer only by using air passing through powerless blades, as the aircraft descended.
Even after Lopez was arrested, police received several additional 911 calls of more shots fired.
Officers then spent more than seven hours in the neighborhood north of Victory Boulevard and west of the
San Diego (405) Freeway searching for a rumored second gunman, Villanueva said.No second suspect has been found so far, police said.
Taryn Manning January Jones Deanna Russo Samantha Morton Jill Arrington
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