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Two police officers in southern California were shot and killed in El Monte

 The El Monte Police Department confirmed that a shooting had taken place at the Siesta Inn on Garvey Avenue around 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

2 Southern California police officers were killed while trying to protect a family, El Monte mayor says

Shooting scene in El Monte, California, where two police officers were killed.

Two police officers in southern California were shot and killed while responding to a possible stabbing at a local motel where they were ambushed by the suspect who was fatally wounded himself during the shootout, authorities said.

El Monte Police Department officers responded to a domestic violence call on Tuesday at the Siesta Inn where they confronted the suspect, who shot one officer inside a room before fleeing to the parking area where he shot another officer, authorities said during a news conference hours after the incident.

The suspect, an unidentified man who was also struck by gunfire, died at the scene, authorities said. Police found a woman, believed to be the suspect's girlfriend, at the scene. She was not stabbed, they said.

The names of the officers were not released. The officers were a 22-year veteran, while the other had been a member of the police force for less than a year, Lowry said. Both officers had family ties in the community of 110,000, east of Los Angeles.