A private security guard responding to an alarm at a home in Encino on New Year’s Eve shot the 88-year-old homeowner, sending her to a hospital where she was recovering this week, police said.
The 34-year-old guard employed with ACS Security arrived at the home in the 5200 block of Encino Avenue at around 8 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 31 after an alarm had been tripped there, according to the Los Angeles Police Department and the guard’s attorney.
The guard saw someone inside the home and fired once, hitting the elderly woman, LAPD said. Police did not know the woman’s current condition.
The guard was arrested and booked in jail in Van Nuys. But he has not been charged, and was released Wednesday, Jan. 3, said his attorney, Jacqueline Sparagna.
“He was dispatched to a property to respond to an alarm. There had been a lot of other burglary calls in that area,” said Sparagna.
“When he saw somebody on the property, he believed it had to be a burglar. He was under the impression that no one was on the property.”
It’s unclear if he will be charged later. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment. California law requires arrestees be released after 48 hours if local prosecutors have not charged them.
Sparagna said she did not know how long the guard had worked for ACS Security, but that he had been a security guard for 10 years.
ACS Security, which is based in Los Angeles, said the company was investigating what led to the shooting.
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