A woman riding in a Range Rover was killed Tuesday in a collision with an Inglewood police car en route to an officer-involved shooting, authorities said.
Loretta Gerard, 45, of Van Nuys, was thrown from the vehicle and died in the accident at Manchester Boulevard and Prairie Avenue about 1 a.m., according to police and coroner's spokesman Ed Winter.
No police officers were believed to have been seriously injured in the accident or the officer-involved shooting, which left two robbery suspects wounded by a shotgun blast.
One the robbery suspects may have died at a hospital, according to the coroner's office, but Inglewood police could not immediately confirm that.
The officer whose patrol car struck the SUV was responding to an officer- involved shooting in the 600 block of West Venice Way, police said. The patrol car had its emergency lights and siren on, according to police.
Inglewood police Sgt. Mike Bolliger was confronted by two armed men who had just robbed someone, and he wounded them with a shotgun, police said. Their names were being withheld.
The second of three patrol cars headed north on Prairie to back up Bolliger struck the Range Rover, which was going east on Manchester, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Travis Ruiz.
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The intersection is controlled by a signal, but it was not immediately clear if someone ran a red light. The CHP is in charge of the investigation.
There are red light cameras at the intersection. Investigators said they will play an important role moving forward.
Gerard, a passenger in the SUV, was thrown from the vehicle and fatally injured, according to Ruiz. She apparently was not wearing a seat belt.
The driver of the Range Rover, whose name was withheld, was uninjured, according to the CHP.
