A Hawthorne man who allegedly opened fire on Los Angeles police officers earlier this week has been charged with attempted murder, the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Anthony Lamont Hill, 18, fired on a patrol car Monday after being approached by officers as he walked along Washington Boulevard, according to the DA’s office.
The officers reported seeing Hill walking along the road with a firearm. When they tried to stop him, he took off on foot, they said. At one point, Hill turned and fired his weapon at the officers’ vehicle hitting the patrol car several times, according to the DA’s office.
He was ultimately taken into custody and his firearm was identified as a 9mm Polymer80 unregistered ghost gun.
He faces two counts each of premeditated attempted murder of a peace officer and assault with a semi-automatic firearm on a peace officer. He also faces one count of carrying an unregistered firearm in public.
Ghost guns are firearms without serial numbers that are often assembled from parts or kits.
District Attorney George Gascón has made reducing the number of ghost guns on the street a priority for his office. Earlier this year, the district attorney called on major credit card companies to stop online payments for the firearms kits.
“Stopping violent crime that targets police officers, and the people they are sworn to protect, is essential to building safer and healthier communities,” Gascón said in a news release. “My office is holding accountable the people who use guns to harm others and working to restrict access to ghost guns, which have contributed to the recent rise in violent crime across our nation.”
Hill was scheduled to appear in court Thursday for his arraignment, but the court date was continued to June 9.
The shooting remains under investigation by the LAPD’s Force Investigation Division.