LAPD officer in surgery after being shot near South LA *

An unidentified Los Angeles Police Department gang officer helping to search a home in the unincorporated Willowbrook area this evening was shot in the face and neck by a suspect hiding in the attic. A parole officer was wounded in the leg in a firefight that erupted in the house. The LAPD officer is reportedly undergoing surgery at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood and is expected to survive. The parole officer was treated at the scene. Police as of 10 p.m. believe the suspect is still inside the home in the the 2200 block of East 117th Street.

A citywide tactical alert was issued to keep officers on duty after the end of their scheduled shifts. A Sigalert was called on the eastbound Glen Anderson Freeway at
Wilmington Avenue.

It's unknown whether the search was connected to the shooting earlier in the day of two LAPD detectives outside the Wilshire Area station in Mid-City.

LAT, Fox 11, NBC 4

* 8 a. m. update: Still no arrest at the house. LAT

Photo: NBC4