A stranded motorist walked toward a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and suddenly shot him, a fatal attack that led to an Interstate 95 shootout with a police officer that also left the gunman dead, an investigation released Friday concluded. Trooper Joseph Bullock had been helping Franklin Reed III for an hour Feb. 5 and had returned to his patrol car to do paperwork when Reed, after a dispute with a tow truck driver over payment, walked over and shot him in the head, Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told a press conference. Snyder called Bullock's slaying “an unprovoked, premeditated murder.”

Seattle police arrested six people after a confrontation with an indigenous activist group Sunday afternoon in South Lake Union. The arrests took place at Fairview Avenue North and North Republican Street after police formed a bicycle line to stop about 40 marchers with Protectors of the Salish Sea from getting onto Interstate 5, the Police Department said in a news release posted online. The Salish Sea group had begun what it described as a “prayer walk” at the Washington Park Arboretum on Sunday with an intended destination of Myrtle Edwards Park. When they reached South Lake Union, according to SPD, some marchers tried to get past the bicycle line and one person assaulted an officer. As police tried to arrest the alleged assailant, “other individuals attempted to prevent the officers from doing so,” the department news release said. Officers used pepper spray to disperse the crowd and arrested five men and one woman.

For most George Gascón supporters knocking on doors in South Los Angeles, the race to determine the county’s top prosecutor is extremely personal. Among those involved in the $1-million get-out-the-vote effort is Linda Gomez, who as a teen was sentenced to 14 years in prison for assault with a gang enhancement. She was released after criminal justice reform laws like those championed by Gascón changed parole eligibility for juvenile offenders. Just a few miles away, near downtown, is the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing rank-and-file LAPD officers that has long supported more traditional law-and-order policies, which poured $1 million into two outside committees supporting L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey. An outside committee organized by the union recently released an ad depicting Gascón as a “con man” scurrying out of San Francisco to escape criticism for his alleged failings as district attorney there. As the combative district attorney’s race hurtles toward a March 3 primary, the ideological split between Lacey and her two challengers is starkly represented by the people and organizations pumping a combined $4.3 million into the race through contributions to outside committees.

A man was shot dead and another man was wounded during a shooting attack Saturday in Pacoima. The shooting occurred at 12:23 a.m. in the 12700 block of Montague Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations Section. One person was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:29 a.m., according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. The deceased victim was identified as Omar Medina, 27, of Pacoima, said coroner’s Lt. David Smith. Paramedics rushed another man in stable condition to an area hospital, said Officer Rosario Cervantes of the LAPD’s Media Relations Section. No further details were released, although ABC7, citing a law enforcement source, said the shooing happened at a cockfighting event.

A 27-year-old man was shot and killed early Saturday morning at an apartment building in downtown Los Angeles, authorities said. Multiple callers reported the shooting about 1 a.m. in the 1300 block of Flower Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Officers and homicide detectives responded to the scene, where the victim was pronounced dead. A man was later taken into custody in the case. Neither he nor the deceased individual were publicly identified. The motive for the shooting is under investigation.

Authorities were continuing to search Sunday for two separate drivers who struck and killed an 87-year-old man in Westlake this weekend before fleeing the scene. The man, whom authorities identified as Chan Wook Park, was crossing 8th Street west of Westmoreland Avenue about 4 a.m. Saturday when he was struck by a white BMW sedan traveling east on 8th Street, Los Angeles police said. The driver stopped and was told to remain at the scene by multiple witnesses, but he got back into his car and fled, according to investigators. A white Honda Accord then struck Park as he was lying on the ground and did not stop, police said. Park was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries. Police described the BMW driver as a man between 5 feet 7 and 5 feet 9, last seen driving a four-door sedan. No description of the Honda driver was available. Anyone with information was asked to contact LAPD West Traffic Detectives at (213) 473-0234.

Los Angeles police asked for the public’s help Thursday in finding a human trafficking suspect who’s been spotted across Southern California. The man goes by the nickname “Creole Blood” and is believed to be 32 years old, according to a news release from the L.A. Police Department. Last week, on Feb. 12, an 18-year-old woman contacted police in Van Nuys to report that she was a trafficking victim. She said she’d met the man at a liquor store in Victorville, where he tried to sell her on a glamorous life of money and travel. The teen told police that “Blood” knew she had a difficult home life and struggled financially, and that he used physical force to coerce her into becoming a prostitute after she initially refused. The woman began working for “Blood” out of fear for her safety, LAPD said. Vice detectives are hoping to track the man down, and identify any additional victims.

Los Angeles police are investigating a bizarre multiple-vehicle crash Friday night in South L.A. At least four vehicles were involved in the collision. Three people were taken to a local hospital in unknown condition. Their age and gender were not immediately known. The crash happened shortly before 8:30 p.m. in the area of W. 108th Street and Hoover Street. The immediate area is closed off for the investigation. No further details were immediately known. This is an ongoing investigation. 

 Authorities asked for public help on Sunday to find an 18-year-old woman with "diminished mental capacity" who went missing in South Los Angeles. Kaliyah McGowan of Lancaster was last seen Feb. 6 about 5 p.m. in the1000 block of West 59th Street, near South Vermont Avenue, according to Deputy Marvin Crowder of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Information Bureau. McGowan is black, 5-feet-9 inches tall, and weighs about 280 pounds. She has black short hair and brown eyes, Crowder said. She was last seen wearing a T-shirt and jeans. Authorities circulated a photo of McGowan and encouraged anyone with information about her whereabouts to contact the sheriff's Missing Persons Unit at 323-890-5500 or 911. Tipsters can call 800-222-TIPS.

An Eyewitness News Investigation examines the strange alliance between a suspected mobster in Los Angeles and a polygamous clan in Utah, and how it ties into a mysterious group called "The Order." One polygamist testified the men had more cash than they could ever spend, before their billion dollar scheme unraveled. Prosecutors say Los Angeles businessman Levon Termendzhyan is a criminal mastermind and the driving force behind a scheme to defraud the government and taxpayers of more than $1 billion. Termendzhyan allegedly conspired with Utah polygamists, including brothers Jacob and Isaiah Kingston, the chief executives of Utah's Washakie Renewable Energy. The Kingstons "flipped" before trial and are now testifying against Termendzhyan in a Salt Lake City courtroom in the biofuel fraud case.

A federal judge in Los Angeles sentenced a North Hollywood man to nine years in prison for smuggling more than 88 pounds of cocaine inside household products sent to Australia and laundering up to $3.5 million with his sister, prosecutors announced Friday. Vardges Markosyan, who went by aliases such as “David Petrosov” and “Giani Oncho,” shipped packages of cocaine via commercial carrier by suspending the drugs in grease inside household products like air conditioners, water heaters and lampstands, according to court filings. Markosyan, 47, played a role in a drug conspiracy that sent about 40 kilograms of cocaine to Australia, where it held a wholesale value federal prosecutors said totaled at least $7 million. The drugs were smuggled there over a nearly 2-year period between December 2014 and October 2016.

One man was rescued Sunday from a second-floor window of an apartment building in San Pedro as firefighters battled the flames, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The fire at 1527 S. Palos Verdes St. was reported at 4:04 p.m., said LAFD spokesman Brian Humphrey. The blaze was contained to one unit at the scene, Humphrey said. The department dispatched 35 firefighters and extinguished the flames in under 20 minutes, Humphrey continued. The victim, whose agitated behavior hampered firefighting efforts, was given medical treatment for minor injuries and taken into custody by Los Angeles police, Humphrey said.

Murder charges have been filed against two 13-year-old boys suspected of starting a blaze that killed two firefighters at a central California library. Police said the boys were arrested after they were seen running from Porterville City Library shortly after flames erupted on the afternoon of Feb. 18. The Tulare County District Attorney’s Office on Friday filed two counts of murder with special circumstances of multiple murders and arson, the Visalia Times Delta reported. The boys denied the charges and remain in jail, the newspaper said. Their names were not released because they are minors. They are scheduled to return to juvenile court on March 11. Firefighters Patrick Jones, 25, and Raymond Figueroa, 35, were killed as they battled the flames that gutted the library in the town about 50 miles (79 kilometers) north of Bakersfield in the San Joaquin Valley.

The Los Angeles City Council paid tribute on Friday, Feb. 21 to Rita Walters, the first black woman elected to the council, a longtime city library commissioner and a former teacher and member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education. Walters died Wednesday at age 89. Councilman Curren Price, who holds the 9th District seat once occupied by Walters, made the motion to adjourn Friday’s council meeting in honor of Walters. “During a time of great oppression for African-Americans, Ms. Walters was inspired to begin her career as a public servant, insisting on gaining respect wherever she went,” Price said. “She was a pioneer that laid the groundwork for blacks and other people of color for generations to come.” Price said Walters was committed to ensuring minorities gained equal employment, and she challenged the use of force by police against people of color. Council President Nury Martinez said Walters was an inspiration to young women throughout Los Angeles, including herself.