JULY 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 7

AROUND THE COUNTRY
EL MONTE, CA
IN MOURNING
Two El Monte Police Officers killed in
shootout near California motel.
EL MONTE, CA – Two El Monte
police officers were shot and
killed Tuesday, June 14th while
on a domestic disturbance call
to a motel and now the community
and law enforcement across
California are in mourning.
The officers were identified as
Cpl. Michael Paredes and Officer
Joseph Santana.
The officers responded to a
possible stabbing at the Siesta
Inn near Garvey and Central avenues
just before 5 p.m. Tuesday
and were immediately confronted
with a man who began firing
at them inside a motel room,
according to Deputy David Yoo, a
spokesperson for the Los Angeles
County Sheriff’s Department.
The Sheriff’s Department was
assisting El Monte Police with
the investigation.
The suspect identified as Justin
Flores, fled the room to the
parking lot, where more gunfire
was exchanged. The suspect was
hit by gunfire and died at the
scene, detectives said. A handgun
thought to be the suspect’s
was recovered.
Authorities confirmed the male
suspect was pronounced dead at
the scene. A body covered by a
sheet could be seen in the parking
lot.
The two officers were rushed
to LA County-USC Medical Center,
where they died from their
injuries.
Officials said the two officers
had been ambushed. The Sheriff’s
Department later confirmed
that the call to the motel was for
“a welfare check of a possible
female stabbed at the location.”
El Monte Mayor Jessica Ancona
held a press conference Tuesday
night to discuss the shooting.
Ancona said:
“They were acting as a first line
of defense for our community
members when they were essentially
ambushed while trying
to keep a family safe.”
Officials said a woman involved
in the call about a possible
stabbing was the suspect’s
girlfriend and is being interviewed
by detectives. She was
not injured in the incident.
A joint statement was released
Tuesday night by the city of El
Monte, the El Monte Police Department
and the El Monte Police
Officers Association. It said:
“There are no words to describe
our grief and devastation
by this senseless act as we
learned about the passing of two
of our police officers. It weighs
heavy on our hearts and we are
sending our support to their
families. We would also like to
thank the El Monte community
and our surrounding government
agencies for the outpouring support
we have received in the last
few hours.”
El Monte interim Police Chief
Ben Lowry called the officers
heroes. He spoke outside the
hospital:
“These two men were loved.
They were good men. They paid
the ultimate sacrifice, serving
their community trying to help
somebody.”
He said somberly:
“Today, they were murdered
Corporal Michael Domingo Paredes
by a coward and we are grieving
and that hurts.”
A procession of police vehicles
with lights on began shortly
after 11 p.m. as officers with the
El Monte Police Department escorted
the officers’ bodies from
the hospital to the L.A. County
Coroner’s office.
Former longtime El Monte Mayor
Andre Quintero, who served
from 2009 to 2020, offered his
condolences. He stated:
“I’m completely devastated to
learn about the shooting of two
of El Monte’s Police officers. Details
are still being investigated
and reported.
The mother of Officer Santana
says had District Attorney
George Gascón done his job, her
son would be alive.
Gascón, who has come under
fire over the disposition of
a 2021 criminal case against a
man who fatally shot two El
Monte police officers last week,
defended his office’s handling of
the matter Tuesday, saying the
suspect had no history of violence
before the shooting and
insisted a plea agreement that
allowed the man to avoid jail
time was “appropriate under the
circumstances.’’
“He was basically someone
who had been drug addicted for
many years,” said Gascón during
a news conference.
As the investigation continues,
critics of Gascón have loudly
lashed out at the district attorney,
noting that Flores -- a felon
with a history of arrests -- was
given a plea deal last year that
allowed him to avoid prison
time for being in possession of a
firearm.
As a result of the plea, charges
of methamphetamine possession
and being a felon in possession
of ammunition were dropped,
Officer Joseph Anthony Santana
and Flores was placed on two
years’ probation, and 20 days in
jail.
“The outcome in this particular
case, given what we knew then,
no history of violence, very little
contact with the criminal justice
system for nearly 10 years, was
appropriate,” said Gascón.
Last week, Santana’s mother
lashed out at Gascón, saying his
“insane ideas’’ allowed the gunman
to remain out of jail and
free to murder her son.
“I blame the death of my son
and his partner on Gascón,’’ said
Olga Garcia. “Gascón will never
know how I feel. Gascón will
never know how he destroyed
our families. He won’t know how
[Santana’s] children feel. Crime
is so high in California because
criminals don’t stay in jail long
enough. We need to make criminals
responsible for their actions.
We need law and order.”
22 The BLUES The BLUES 23