CHP Officer Shot During LA Traffic Stop; Suspect Captured

VAN NUYS, CA — A California Highway Patrol officer was shot and critically wounded in a Studio City traffic stop, and a suspect was captured after an extensive manhunt Tuesday morning.

Pejhmaun Khosroadbadi, 33, was arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of a police officer shortly before 9 a.m., CHP Officer Wes Haver of the agency's West Valley Area office told City News Service.

A canine from the Los Angeles Police Department tracked down Khosroadbadi, who was found by authorities hiding in a homeless encampment at Gloria Avenue and Cantlay Street, according to reports from the scene.

The dog tracked Khosroadbadi's scent from a Haskell Avenue apartment building where a standoff involving SWAT officers occurred overnight to the homeless encampment, where he was found with an unspecified injury in a tent.

Paramedics sent to the 15900 block of Cantlay Street at 8:50 a.m. took a man to a hospital for treatment of an unspecified injury, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department, which did not confirm that the man was the suspect in the CHP shooting.

LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the suspect "suffered a gunshot wound to his hand during the altercation with the (CHP) officer," NBC4 reported.

Khosroadbadi was believed to be armed and dangerous, and the search for him had Studio City residents and Southern California law enforcement on edge Tuesday.

The wounded officer was taken to Cedars Sinai Medical Center in critical condition, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Nicholas Prange told the Los Angeles Times. The officer's condition was later upgraded to serious, according to Fox11.

The shooting occurred just before 7:55 p.m. Monday in the 4500 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Studio City, one block south of the Ventura (101) Freeway, according to the LAPD.

The officer had conducted a traffic stop on a white Ford Fusion and an altercation ensued, according to authorities.

"During the altercation, the suspect produced a firearm and fired several rounds, striking our officer multiple times," CHP Officer Wes Haver, of the West Valley Area office, told reporters. "The suspect fled the scene."

After shooting the CHP officer, police say the suspect drove to the apartment complex on Haskell Avenue in Van Nuys. LAPD officers interviewed the suspect's roommate, according to broadcast reports.

KCAL9 reported police searched the area for a white Ford Fusion with Oregon plates in connection with the shooting. Police later found a Ford Fusion outside the apartment complex that matched the description of the one they say the suspect was driving when the CHP officer was shot.

The area around Haskell and Saticoy Street was closed while authorities investigated the shooting.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.