A homeless man accused of shooting two police officers outside a busy Kmart in Burbank has been identified as Jamie Willard, a 30-year-old male transient from Gresham, Ore.
Willard is already wanted in Oregon on charges of felony theft, but now he faces more serious charges in Burbank.
"We're going to be filing two counts of attempted murder on a police officer. Two counts of assault with a deadly weapon also, and I believe his bail is going to be about $4 million," said Sgt. Robert Quesada of the Burbank Police Department.
On Friday, Willard was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting at a Burbank Kmart, but despite being handcuffed, police say, Willard managed to grab an officer's gun and begin firing.
Officer Alex Gutierrez was shot repeatedly in the chest, but fortunately was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time, and now is back at home and recovering.
Officer Derek Green was shot in the hand.
"The officers are in good spirits, and they're doing well. As a matter of fact, Officer Green is going in for a third surgery today, and hopefully if the doctor gives him the OK, then he should be able to go home," said Quesada.
But the question remains, could these shootings have been avoided?
"It's hard to make a comment here, and it's easy to Monday-morning quarterback, but until we know exactly what went on out there -- because it was really chaotic out there at that time -- until we know exactly what's going on, and it's probably going to be about six months to a year before they finish their investigation," said Quesada.
