A 22-year-old man accused of gunning down a Baldwin Park police officer and a civilian before he was shot was charged Tuesday, June 3, with first-degree murder with special circumstances in the deaths of the officer, Samuel Riveros, and a civilian, Darius Wong of Walnut.
The special circumstances charges could open up the accused shooter, Eduardo Roberto Medina-Berumen, to a possible death sentence if convicted.
The charges were announced by Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman at a news conference attended by Baldwin Park police and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials. Among those present was Baldwin Park police officer Anthony Pimentel, who had been shot late Saturday night and released from the hospital on Sunday.
Medina-Berumen also is accused of the attempted murder of Baldwin Park police officer Alfredo Leal, who was not shot.
The defendant, who was hospitalized after he was shot by at least one other officer, was arrested the night of the shooting, and was being held on a $4 million bail. He remained in the hospital on Tuesday.
Hochman and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said an assault rife, two high-capacity magazines and 40-60 expended casings were recovered at the crime scene.
The DA’s office will decide later whether to seek capital punishment, Hochman said.
In the days since the shooting, Hochman said, he met with the families of Riveros and Wong.
Wong, 43, was a husband and a father of two young girls, Luna said. Investigators said they don’t yet know a motive for the shooting or the exact circumstances that led to it.
Wong’s family asked to extend their thanks to Riveros’ family for his stepping in as the shooting continued, Hochman said.
“We don’t need to talk about superheroes and comic book heroes,” the DA said, “because we have heroes in this exact situation.”
Police were initially called just after 7:10 p.m. about a man shooting a rifle in the 4200 block of Filhurst Avenue Saturday night, said Lt. Michael Modica with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Wong was on his way to a party, Modica said.
When Riveros and Pimentel arrived, Medina-Berumen immediately fired at them, said Sheriff Robert Luna. Riveros and Pimentel weren’t able to fire back, Modica said, but he didn’t specify how many other officers shot back at Medina-Berumen.
After the shooting, Riveros, Pimentel and Medina-Berumen were taken to a hospital.
Riveros, 35, of Pasadena, died of a gunshot wound to the head.
Riveros worked for the Baldwin Park Police Department for nine years. He was on the SWAT team and became a field training officer last July.
He loved snowboarding, and was an avid Dodgers fan who traveled to stadiums around the country to watch the team play, police officials said.
He graduated from UC Irvine, Baldwin Park police Chief Robert Lopez said.
“He was a part of our family,” Lopez said, “and it’s hard to express what a tremendous loss this is for our department and Baldwin Park.”
Eduardo Roberto Medina-Berumen is expected to be arraigned sometime this week, officials said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for more.