Los Angeles, California — On July 3, 2024, around 9:00 p.m., Southeast Area uniformed patrol officers initiated a traffic stop on a white, four door sedan at Broadway and Rosecrans Avenue. The suspect’s vehicle initially began to accelerate away but stopped suddenly on Broadway north of Rosecrans Avenue. Before officers could exit the police vehicle, the suspect, armed with a fully automatic weapon, fired at officers without warning. An Officer-Involved Shooting (OIS) occurred when one officer returned fire. The suspect fled the scene in the vehicle. It is unknown if the suspect was struck by gunfire. Authorities later determined the rounds were fired from a fully automatic AR-style rifle, a self-loading rifle that continuously chambers and fires rounds when the trigger is held down.
Officers attempted to follow the suspect’s vehicle for approximately 200 yards but lost sight of the vehicle in the area of 135th Street and Broadway. Both officers sustained cuts and scratches from glass fragments caused by the suspects rounds striking the police vehicle windshield, with one officer receiving two graze wounds to his head. Los Angeles Fire Department personnel transported the officers to a local hospital where they were treated for their injuries and released the following morning. Numerous rifle casings from the suspect’s weapon were recovered from the scene. No other officers or citizens were injured during the incident.
On July 12, 2024, Los Angeles Police arrested 31-year-old Malcolm Guss Jr.. He is charged in case 24CMCF01337 on one count of attempted murder of a peace officer; two counts of assault with a machine gun upon a peace officer; one count of shooting at an occupied motor vehicle; one count of possession of a machine gun; and two counts of possession of firearm by a felon. During the ensuing investigation, police located and seized the Chevrolet sedan. Police also seized a firearm believed to have been involved in the crime. He was booked into police custody on $2,000,000 bail, booking number 6845941. If convicted as charged, Guss faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
