LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Police are still on the hunt for the gunman who killed an off-duty LAPD officer in Lincoln Heights Saturday morning.
Juan Diaz was with his girlfriend and two of his brothers at the Avenue 26 taco stand when he was gunned down. Sources say he may have been shot by gang members after he tried to stop one of them from vandalizing a nearby property.
Officer Diaz, who was 24, had only been with the department for two years.
(Credit: CBS)
Police are searching for security camera video and ask that anyone who may have witnessed the shooting contact investigators.
Residents of the neighborhood say it’s cleaned up in recent years after a troubled, gang-plagued past.
The Diaz shooting is a sobering reminder of how quickly things can change — a thought echoed by Lincoln Heights resident Fawn Kazati: “I thought with all the improvements that things were getting better… You get so comfortable in your neighborhood walking your dogs late at night cause you know everybody and you think it’s okay and suddenly this place that feels like home is foreign and alien to you.”
Neighbors and fellow officers have been stopping by at the corner where he died to pay their respects and add to the memorial that’s been placed there.
Mourners are also leaving candles, flowers and pictures for Officer Diaz at a growing memorial outside police headquarters. On Sunday, family, friends and classmates of the policy academy grad gathered for an impromptu vigil.
The LAPD says its grateful for the outpouring of public support: “We continue to keep the Diaz family in our thoughts and prayers, while honoring Officer Diaz’s memory.”
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