Officers, citizen shoot at suspects One killed, 2 wounded in separate incidents

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Officers, citizen shoot at suspectsOne killed, 2 wounded in separate incidentsBy TOM HELDof the Journal Sentinel staffLast Updated: Nov. 16, 2001Police officers and a citizen stopped crime with gunfire Friday, killing one suspect and wounding two others in separate incidents, authorities said.Gabriel Guzman, 20, became the first suspect shot and killed by police this year, in a confrontation with two officers in a backyard in the 2200 block of S. 19th St.According to the police account, Guzman pointed a gun at the officers after a short foot chase. Both officers, one an eight-year veteran and the other in his second year in the department, fired at Guzman.He was pronounced dead at a hospital.Police spokeswoman Karen Pride Garvin said the encounter with Guzman began when the officers spotted a car they believed to be stolen going northbound on N. 19th St. about 12:45 a.m. The car hit a parked vehicle, and three suspects bailed out, dropping two Molotov cocktails on the road.Both officers chased Guzman into the rear yard. The other two men, ages 19 and 21, were arrested in the neighborhood a short time later, authorities said.Guzman, according to court records, lived about 10 blocks from the yard in which he was killed. His record includes convictions for battery and entering a locked vehicle.Within an hour of Guzman's shooting, officers shot a 19-year-old man in the foot in the 3600 block of N. 26th St.The police account says two officers heard loud noises from a house, and the 19-year-old man, armed with a handgun, came out of the residence when the officers began to investigate. The man pointed his gun at one of the officers, who shot him.The 19-year-old was arrested a short distance from the home.The officers involved in both shootings have been placed on administrative leave, pending internal reviews by the Police Department and an investigation by the district attorney's office.Prosecutors also are expected to review the actions of a store owner who thwarted a robbery at the Los Amigos grocery, 2100 S. 13th St., by shooting one of three attempted robbers in the neck shortly after noon."It's a scary feeling," the shop owner said hours after the confrontation. "It felt like I'm having a heart attack."A police official said three men tried to rob the store, with one of them displaying a handgun to the shop workers. The owner grabbed a gun kept for protection and wounded the armed man.All three men fled. The wounded man was discovered by police in a nearby alley, and the other two men were being sought late Friday afternoon.The store owner declined to discuss the details of the shooting but said he acted only out of fear."I'm a peaceful guy, very friendly. I felt my life was threatened," he said. http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/nov01/shoot17111601.asp