On June 24, 2015 at 11:30 p.m. officers were involved in a shooting in the 5000 block Conwell Ave, in Azusa. The identity of the suspect shot by police last night is Jose Jesus Juarez, a 45 year old resident of Azusa, and is the same suspect in the June 12th incident described below. The shooting is currently being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

On June 12, 2015 at 4:07 p.m. two Azusa P.D. officers were conducting a walkthrough of the Edgewood Shopping Center located in the 200 block E. Gladstone St. They were conducting extra patrols in the area due to chronic complaints about people loitering in the area and drinking alcohol. During the extra patrol they saw two male adults sitting near the front of a business. Suspect Juarez was drinking from a container concealed in a plastic bag.

After looking in the direction of the officers, the suspects got up and began walking away. Juarez then dropped his beverage and officers contacted him. During the contact it was confirmed both suspects had been drinking alcoholic beverages. An additional two-officer unit also responded to the scene to assist. During the investigation it was determined that Juarez was intoxicated to a degree he could not care for his own safety or the safety of others. As officers were preparing to arrest Juarez, he clenched his fists and refused to comply with lawful requests from officers. He was given several opportunities to cooperate, but he suddenly turned and ran.

Officers quickly caught up to Juarez and he struggled with them. They fell to the ground where Juarez violently fought with the officers, attempting to punch and kick them. Officers gave Juarez numerous commands to stop resisting and fighting, but he continued his violent assault. A supervisor on scene saw that Juarez was attempting to place at least one of his legs around the neck of one of the officers. At one point he unsuccessfully attempted to remove an officer’s TASER from its holster. He then grabbed the officer’s OC spray, successfully pulling it from the officer’s duty belt. At this time two officers struck Juarez in an attempt to defend themselves from his attack. Although this stopped Juarez from punching and kicking officers, he continued to resist and struggle. He also slammed his own face into the ground several times while making statements about wanting to kill himself.

As officers were struggling to handcuff Juarez he concealed one of his arms under his body in his waistband area. Despite repeated orders to place his hands behind his back, he refused. Officers were forced to apply two “drive stun” TASER applications to Juarez, resulting in them being able to handcuff him. Despite being handcuffed, Juarez continued to struggle with officers.

Juarez was seriously injured in this incident. Medical aid was immediately summoned to the scene, where Juarez was treated by L.A. County Fire personnel, despite being uncooperative and assaultive toward them. He was transported to an area hospital where he received further treatment and was later released.

Juarez’ violent actions and assault on the officers is being reviewed by the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office for filing consideration. This is an ongoing investigation and we wish to be as thorough as possible. We are requesting anyone with additional information, photographs, or video related to the incident provide it to the Azusa Police Department, by calling (626) 812-3200. For anonymous tips, please click on the Anonymous Tip logo at the top of our website.

MEDIA INQUIRIES: This press release was authorized by Lieutenant Sam Fleming. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please call the on-duty watch commander at (626) 812-3200 for any immediate inquiries.