Daniel Christopher Yealu, 29

Daniel Christopher Yealu, died Thursday, April 24, after being shot by Los Angeles police officers in the 4800 block of West Venice Boulevard in Mid-City, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

On Monday, April 7, about 8:30 p.m., Yealu allegedly walked into the Wilshire Division station, approached the front desk and fired a Glock pistol at the two officers there, officials said.

One of the officers was wounded before the pair returned fire. Four rounds hit the officer and three hit his extremities, but he was expected to recover. The officer, described by officials as a seven-year department veteran, was released from the hospital April 8.

At a news conference after the shooting, Police Chief Charlie Beck said the officer was “very, very lucky” and by returning fire saved his partner’s life.

Officials believe the violence could have been a lot worse had the gunman not been subdued quickly — about 20 people were attending a community meeting just feet from where the shots were fired.

"The belief was he was going to go a lot further than just the two people at the front desk," Los Angeles Police Commission President Steve Soboroff said.

Officials said that Yealu was carrying extra magazines and had a “heavilty modified” AK-47 in his car parked outside.

He also had obtained what Beck described as an “armament” of weapons: a 9-millimeter handgun, a semi-automatic Sig Sauer handgun, an AR-15-style assault rifle, a 1960s SKS model assault rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun.

Yealu had been charged with two counts of attempted murder of a peace officer and was hospitalized in critical condition before he was pronounced dead April 24 at 2:53 p.m.

LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith said Yealu had applied to become an LAPD officer but was rejected. The city personnel department said he sought the job in 2009 and passed a written test.

State records showed Yealu obtained a license to work as a security guard in 2005, and got a firearm permit in 2007. But both expired Dec. 31, 2013, after he failed to pay necessary fees, a Department of Consumer Affairs spokeswoman said.

Yealu's father said in an interview that he learned of his son's alleged acts when detectives showed up at his door the day after the incident.

He said that although he didn't talk to his son often — the pair last spoke by phone in October — he noticed no warning signs.

Danny Yealu, 58, said that as a teenager, his son got involved in gangs, and was at one time picked up by police in Inglewood. But he said his son told him he had turned his life around, that he was "doing really well."

Yealu said his son also told him last year that he was undergoing the background checks required by Burbank police.

Burbank police officials said they had no record that he had applied to any position within the city or its community police academy.

Residents of the Motor Avenue apartment complex where Daniel Yealu lived said he mostly kept to himself. Some said he wasn't friendly to them — that he looked away when walking by and never said hello.

-- Los Angeles Times Staff