Man Who Shot 2 Officers Had Been in Ohio Jail

A man who shot and wounded two Los Angeles police officers Sunday night before dying in a hail of gunfire had been released from an Ohio jail last month and was a suspect in a recent armed robbery in Glendale, authorities said Monday. Daniel Kozelka, a 35-year-old native of Parma Heights in suburban Cleveland, left his home state Jan. 19 after assaulting his father, Los Angeles Police Lt. William Hall said.

Sunday’s incident began about 7 p.m., when Officers Jon Hurd and Richard Houseman stopped Kozelka in North Hollywood after he ran a stop sign. Alerted that the car he was driving may have been used in a recent gas station holdup, the two officers ordered Kozelka to get out of the car with his hands above his head. Hurd was about to search him when he pulled out a .44 caliber revolver and began firing, Hall said.

Both officers were hit twice before they were able to return fire and were apparently saved by their bulletproof vests, Hall said.