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$100K Reward Offered For Arrest Of School Officer Shooter

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities are planning an $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunman who shot and wounded a Los Angeles school police officer as police continue a search for the suspect.

Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine says he would introduce a council motion Friday seeking a $75,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter.

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He said the Los Angeles Unified School District police officer's association, the Los Angeles Police Protective League and the Los Angeles Retired Fire and Police Association have each contributed $5,000. And David Gold, founder of the 99 Cents Only stores, put up $9,999.99. Zine took a penny out of his pocket to make that amount an even $10,000. The total reward amount is now $100,000.

Investigators said they had made progress with the recovery of some forensic evidence, Police Chief Charlie Beck said at a news conference Thursday. Detectives also were hoping to recover fingerprints from the scene.

Beck also defended the aggressive response to the shooting, which included the lockdown of nine schools for several hours.

Any person who openly shoots and wounds an armed and on-duty police officer has "demonstrated a viciousness and wanton disregard for human life that puts them at a different level," Beck said.

The shooting happened Wednesday morning on a street just outside El Camino Real High School in the Woodland Hills area of the west San Fernando Valley.

Some 9,000 students were held in classrooms for hours at area middle, elementary and high schools as more than 350 police officers, sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers scoured 7 square miles around the school and the surrounding area. Some were finally allowed to leave long after dark.

Officer Jeff Stenroos was struck in the chest by a bullet when he confronted a man breaking into cars but his body armor stopped the round, authorities said.

Beck introduced Michael Brodey, a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, at the Thursday news conference. Brodey used the officer's police radio to report the shooting and stayed with Stenroos until police and paramedics arrived.

Brodey downplayed his role. "What I did yesterday was doing what I'm trained to do," Brodey said.

Stenroos was released from a hospital Wednesday night, and a school district spokesman said he was helping police with a sketch of the man, who escaped despite the huge manhunt.

The nine schools that were locked down for hours reopened Thursday under heavy security, a district official said.

School district police and city officers patrolled at El Camino Real and other campuses. Crisis counselors also were on hand, but normal classes were held.

"We feel that our students are safe and secure," but the extra security presence may comfort anxious pupils, said Robert Alaniz, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

He did not immediately have figures for school attendance.

Three schools in the "hot zone" -- the immediate area near the shooting -- kept students in classrooms for hours without access to food or bathrooms, Alaniz said.

Students in schools closest to the shooting were kept to classrooms on police orders, Alaniz said. They were unable to be sent food or go into the corridors to reach the cafeteria, and they were not allowed to leave to use the bathroom. Some said they used a trash can in a closet as a makeshift toilet.

Alaniz said it was necessary for safety.

"The last thing we want is for some kid wandering to use the bathroom being taken hostage or being caught in a crossfire," Alaniz said. "You have dogs that are searching, you have SWAT teams with guns."

Some parents complained, but school officials said they had to defer to police.

(© Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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