A Downey police officer sitting in his cruiser on a call Tuesday morning was fired on by a passing driver, who struck the patrol vehicle multiple times before the officer turned around, pulled the shooter over, and made an arrest. No one was hurt in the gunfire, which erupted around 8:30 a.m. in the 10500 block of Downey Avenue.
According to the MyNewsLA.com, the officer was parked and handling an unspecified call when the driver of a passing Dodge Durango opened fire, striking the officer's cruiser multiple times. The officer was not hit. He pursued and pulled over the Durango, then arrested the driver at the scene. Police recovered two firearms during the stop, per the same account, though the suspect's name was not immediately available.
Downey police described the shooting as an apparently isolated incident, and the investigation remains ongoing. The department has not released further details on what, if anything, prompted the driver to fire at the officer, or how the two cars crossed paths on the busy Southeast Los Angeles County corridor.
Police Ask Public for Tips
In a statement posted to Instagram following the arrest, the Downey Police Department
asked anyone with information about the shooting to contact Detective Estrada at (562) 904-2332, or to submit tips anonymously through LA Regional Crime Stoppers. The appeal named the lead detective now overseeing the case as investigators work to piece together what led to the attack.
Tuesday's gunfire struck close to home for a department that has lost two officers in the line of duty since it was founded in 1957, according to the City of Downey. One of those losses still looms large: in November 2015, Officer Ricardo “Ricky” Galvez was fatally shot while sitting in his vehicle outside the Downey police station, an ambush that led to the arrest of three suspects, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. Police this week called the Durango shooting isolated, but the circumstances — a parked officer targeted from a passing vehicle — inevitably echo that earlier tragedy.
Another Shooting on Downey Avenue This Year
Tuesday's shooting follows an officer-involved shooting on Downey Avenue in August. Hoodline previously reported that a Downey officer fatally shot a man on the same street after the individual allegedly killed two people during a domestic violence incident. That earlier shooting prompted a multi-agency review, since criminal investigations into major deadly-force incidents or complex officer shootings involving municipal departments in Los Angeles County are routinely supported by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau.
The attack also lands amid a broader national rise in violence against law enforcement. A federal report published in October 2026 found that nonfatal assaults against officers nationwide reached a 10-year high in 2025, with 90,178 reported assaults at a rate of 13.8 per 100 officers, according to LiveNOW from FOX. Separate FBI data released this year showed 445 officers were assaulted and injured in firearm-involving incidents in 2025.
Possible Charges and Penalties
Should prosecutors move forward, California law provides a specific framework for assaults on officers with firearms. Under Penal Code Section 245(d)(1), an assault with a firearm on a peace officer performing official duties is a felony punishable by four, six, or eight years in state prison, according to FindLaw. Separately, Penal Code Section 12022 provides an ordinary one-year firearm enhancement, with a three-year enhancement for certain weapons, per the Shouse California Law Group.
The Downey Police Department has not announced charges against the driver, and the suspect's identity has not been released. Investigators have also not said what, if anything, connects the shooting to a motive, or where the two recovered firearms came from. The department's investigation remains active as detectives continue to seek tips from the public.
