LOS ANGELES – One of the Los Angeles County deputies who was wounded in an ambush is being credited with saving her partner’s life after a new, hard-to-watch video was released.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said the 31-year-old went “above and beyond the call of duty” in the moments following the shooting.
The deputies, who graduated together from the sheriff’s academy 14 months ago, were shot while sitting in their patrol car at the Compton Metro rail station. They were able to radio for help, the sheriff said.
Surveillance video from the shooting shows a suspect approach the parked patrol car on foot and fire into the passenger-side window.
Moments after the shooting, the passenger door opens and a deputy stumbles out, hand on head, according to the Los Angeles Times. The driver-side door opens soon after.
In the video, the female deputy can be seen with blood on her face from a gunshot wound and her 24-year-old partner bleeding profusely from a wound to his arm.
The video shows the pair take cover behind a pillar and the female deputy quickly tying a tourniquet around the other deputy’s arm in an effort to stop the bleeding.
Both deputies were transported to a hospital and underwent surgery after the shooting Saturday evening. Villanueva confirmed Sunday that both are expected to recover.
“They performed in an admirable fashion in spite of grave adversity,” Villanueva said during a conversation with local religious leaders. “God bless them.”
Officials asked for the public’s help in identifying the gunman in the weekend ambush and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
The department has faced criticism during recent protests over racial unrest but it’s unclear if that was a factor in the shooting.