LOS ANGELES (NewsNation Now) — One of the two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies shot in an ambush attack last weekend has been released from the hospital, the sheriff said Wednesday.
The 31-year-old female deputy and 24-year-old male deputy underwent surgery after the shooting Saturday evening in Compton. The female deputy remains hospitalized. Both are expected to fully recover.
“We at @LASDHQ appreciate the outpouring of prayers and support you have shown for our ambushed deputies,” Sheriff Alex Villanueva tweeted Wednesday evening. “Great news, one of those deputies was released from the hospital today. He has a long road ahead for recovery. But he’s not alone. We, as a community, are in this together.”
A prayer vigil was held outside the hospital where the female deputy remains in ICU.
The deputies were seated in their parked squad car when someone walked up and opened fire through the driver’s window.
The sheriff said Tuesday that investigators are pursuing “promising leads” in the search for the gunman, who was recorded on surveillance video.
The video showed the two deputies tending to one another after they were shot in the head in following the ambush. The two deputies were shot at point-blank range while sitting inside their patrol car in Compton near a Metro station.
Villanueva said the female deputy, a 31-year-old wife and mother, and the 24-year-old male deputy, took lifesaving actions after they were shot multiple times.
Both deputies graduated from the academy 14 months ago, according to Villanueva.
So far the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it has raised more than $280,000 in rewards to catch the gunman and potential accomplice in the shooting. LASD also said they raised $250,000 in private donations.
Vanessa Bryant, the widow of late NBA legend Kobe Byrant, criticized Villaneuva after he challenged Lakers star Lebron James to match a reward offered in the ambush shooting of two deputies. Villanueva had challenged James in multiple interviews to match what was a $200,000 reward in the shootings.
Bryant is suing the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department after deputies allegedly shared photos from the helicopter crash site where her husband Kobe, daughter Gianna, and seven others who died.
Officials have asked for the public’s help in identifying a suspect.
The Associated Press and NewsNation affiliate KTLA contributed to this report.