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Off-duty Los Angeles police officer accused of attempted murder after allegedly shooting another officer

Officer Ismael Tamayo, 44, was arrested on a charge of attempted murder after allegedly shooting another officer on a camping trip near Apple Valley.
Credit: KFMB

LOS ANGELES — An off-duty Los Angeles police officer was shot and seriously wounded during a camping trip near Apple Valley by another officer who was later arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said Sunday.

A third LAPD officer was also involved in the night of drinking and shooting at a campsite in an unincorporated area of San Bernardino County and was detained, the department reported.

The shooting in the Stoddard Wells off-highway vehicle area was reported to the Los Angeles Police Department just after 1 a.m. Sunday, according to the LAPD.

San Bernardino sheriff's deputies responded to the scene and paramedics airlifted the 48-year-old wounded male officer who was shot in his shoulder to a nearby hospital, the LAPD said. The unidentified wounded officer was last reported in stable condition and was expected to survive.

A second LAPD officer, an off-duty supervisor, was not hurt but was detained by San Bernardino sheriff's deputies, the LAPD reported.

Officer Ismael Tamayo, 44, was arrested and booked at High Desert Detention Center on a charge of attempted murder, the department reported. At the time of his arrest, he was in possession of a weapon, police said.

Tamayo was being held at the Adelanto Detention Facility in San Bernardino County on $1 million bail pending a court appearance scheduled for Tuesday, according to inmate records.

Tamayo works in the department's Newton Division and lives in Ontario, according to the LAPD and SBSD.

LAPD Force Investigation Division investigators responded to the scene and began an internal investigation. The LAPD is cooperating with the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department.

"The events overnight culminating in the serious injury to one of our off-duty officers, apparently at the hands of another member of the department, give me great concern," LAPD Chief Michel Moore said. "I spoke earlier this morning with San Bernardino Sheriff John McMahon, pledging our full support of their criminal investigation. I am thankful our injured officer is in stable condition and is expected to survive. I am committed to determining what and how this happened."

Tamayo was relieved of duty pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigation, the department said.

Greg Yacoubian, an attorney for Tamayo, told the L.A. Daily News that the LAPD's comments about the shooting were premature.

"I think once the investigation shakes out, he'll be cleared of any criminal wrongdoing," Yacoubian told the newspaper. "I think it's obviously way too early to be making those kind of value judgments about what happened."

The circumstances under which the shooting occurred are not yet known.

Anyone with information on this shooting was asked to call the SBSD Homicide Detail at 909-387-3589.


San Bernardino sheriff's deputies responded to the scene and paramedics airlifted the 48-year-old wounded male officer who was shot in his shoulder to a nearby hospital, the LAPD said. The unidentified wounded officer was last reported in stable condition and was expected to survive.

A second LAPD officer, an off-duty supervisor, was not hurt but was detained by San Bernardino sheriff's deputies, the LAPD reported.

Officer Ismael Tamayo, 44, was arrested and booked at High Desert Detention Center on a charge of attempted murder, the department reported. At the time of his arrest, he was in possession of a weapon, police said.

Tamayo was being held at the Adelanto Detention Facility in San Bernardino County on $1 million bail pending a court appearance scheduled for Tuesday, according to inmate records.

Tamayo works in the department's Newton Division and lives in Ontario, according to the LAPD and SBSD.

LAPD Force Investigation Division investigators responded to the scene and began an internal investigation. The LAPD is cooperating with the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department.

"The events overnight culminating in the serious injury to one of our off-duty officers, apparently at the hands of another member of the department, give me great concern," LAPD Chief Michel Moore said. "I spoke earlier this morning with San Bernardino Sheriff John McMahon, pledging our full support of their criminal investigation. I am thankful our injured officer is in stable condition and is expected to survive. I am committed to determining what and how this happened."

The circumstances under which the shooting occurred are not yet known.

Tamayo was relieved of duty pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigation, the department said.

Anyone with information on this shooting was asked to call the SBSD Homicide Detail at 909-387-3589.

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