Slain Officer Died Within a Minute, Authorities Say

The Glendale police officer who was ambushed and shot by an attempted-murder suspect in a dark Chatsworth warehouse died in less than a minute, authorities said Thursday.

Two Los Angeles policemen, not knowing that Investigator Charles Lazzaretto had already died in the attack Tuesday night, were wounded in attempts to rescue him.

Lazzaretto, 30, had no way of knowing that the suspect was in the warehouse--let alone hiding in the dark--when he entered, Glendale Police Chief James Anthony said Thursday.

Israel Chapa Gonzalez opened fire immediately, police said.

“They had no reason to think he was there,” Anthony said. “They thought they’d check the warehouse, one last place, and then go home if he wasn’t there.”

The Glendale investigators were following up on the attempted murder earlier in the day of Gonzalez’s girlfriend, authorities said. They had been to one address and were attempting to survey the warehouse when the shooting began. The siege ended eight hours later when Los Angeles Police Department SWAT officers stormed the building and found Gonzalez dead.

New details of the shootings inside the Variel Street adult entertainment warehouse emerged Thursday:

* The Los Angeles County coroner’s office confirmed that Gonzalez committed suicide by shooting himself in the mouth.

* The two wounded Los Angeles police officers knew they were walking into the “kill zone” when they tried to reach Lazzaretto, and were aware that they would probably be shot, sources said. Kevin Foster and Jude Bella told fellow officers that they could see the Glendale policeman’s legs on the warehouse floor and tried to save him. That plan was foiled when Gonzalez opened fire, striking both.

* Gonzalez, who had his own semiautomatic handgun, also fired at police with Lazzaretto’s service revolver, sources said.

Glendale police, city officials and residents continued to mourn the loss of the officer, the father of two boys and husband of a part-time police dispatcher. A public memorial service will be held Monday in the Liberty Court at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills, according to Glendale Police Sgt. Rick Young.

A steady stream of flowers, cards and well-wishers poured into the Glendale police station Thursday. The city will recognize Lazzaretto today during the dedication of the new Glendale Veterans Memorial. The ceremony at Isabel Street and Broadway had been scheduled weeks ago to honor war dead, but officials now want to recognize Lazzaretto as well because he was in the Marine Corps Reserve.

Meanwhile, Foster and Bella continued to recover at a hospital, where they received visits from LAPD officials as well as Glendale police and Lazzaretto’s relatives.

Employees at the Chatsworth warehouse of the adult entertainment company Michael Collins Inc. expressed sorrow for the deaths of Gonzalez and the Glendale officer. The employees said the suspect was a good worker and had never been violent.

Inside the cavernous warehouse, a platform could be seen above the offices and hallway. It was from that perch, authorities said, that Gonzalez opened fire on the officers.

He apparently heard them attempting to gain entrance to the warehouse, then began shooting as they walked down a hallway and entered. Lazzaretto was first, followed by a company employee and Glendale Investigator Art Frank.

When Lazzaretto was shot shortly after 11 p.m., the two others ran out; Frank called for backup assistance. The LAPD officers quickly arrived, entered through the front door and formed a plan to rescue Lazzaretto and distract the suspect, sources said.

The others fired their weapons as Bella and Foster, former Police Academy classmates who have worked at the LAPD two years, attempted to bring Lazzaretto out. But sources said Gonzalez began shooting at them--hitting them in the lower forearms and wrist to keep them away.

The only light in the warehouse was the muzzle flash from Gonzalez’s gun, police said.

It wasn’t until about 1:30 a.m. that SWAT officers, two of whom fired into the pitch-dark warehouse, got to Lazzaretto. The SWAT officers then tried to capture Gonzalez, first by calling out to him with bullhorns, then by using flash grenades and tear gas.

It remained unclear Thursday when Gonzalez killed himself and which gun he used.

His girlfriend, Mischell Bowen, who had been interviewed by Lazzaretto earlier Tuesday, said the Glendale officer was “just like a protector . . . proud of his work, proud of his job. . . . He was very well-spoken, very nice, very understanding.”

She added: “I wouldn’t have called the police if I’d known that this would have happened.”

“You could be dead if you hadn’t called them,” responded her mother, 56-year-old Maria Bowen, who had taken a flight from her home in San Antonio to comfort the youngest of her five daughters.

Times correspondent Greg Rippee contributed to this story.