Sheriff’s Department identifies shooting suspect
UPDATE, 4:23 p.m. Sheriff’s homicide Lt. Dave Dolson said the two officers involved in yesterday’s shooting are on paid administrative leave and will be interviewed about the incident tomorrow.
Dolson said one of the officers involved in the shooting has been with the department just over six years. The other officer has been with the department for about a year and a half.
Dingman had been hanging around campus for an hour or two before he made the 9-1-1 call, Dolson said. He added that Dingman will likely be facing a few misdemeanor charges including using a replica firearm in a threatening manner and making a false 9-1-1 call.
Dingman remains in critical condition at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
ORIGINAL STORY The suspect in yesterday’s on-campus officer-involved shooting has been identified as 18-year-old Peyton Dingman, according to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.
Dingman dialed 9-1-1 and “he identified himself to the police dispatcher, said he had a gun, and a female hostage,” according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Two officers fired their weapons after Dingman produced what appeared to be a gun and pointed it at the officers. He was shot in the upper torso, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
The weapon Dingman had was an Airsoft pellet gun. It was “completely wrapped in black electrical tape, to disguise the fact that it was a pellet gun, making it appear to be a real firearm.”
A suicide note was found at Dingman’s home. He’s in critical condition and is expected to survive.
According to Dingman’s Facebook page, the former student of El Camino attended Bert Lynn Middle School in Torrance. On Dec. 22, he updated his cover photo to a photo of guns with text that says, “Rights don’t change because technology advances.”