(L.A.) Jonathan Magana, 32, Died in a Basement

Case Number: 2023-02656

Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 32-year-old male of Latin American ethnicity that occurred in a basement.

The coroner’s office has identified the man as Jonathan Magana.

Manner of Death: Suicide

Cause of Death: Gunshot Wound Of Head

RIP JONATHAN MAGANA (September 21, 1990 – March 8, 2023)

The decedent died during a shootout with LAPD.

The medical examiner had to determine whether his death was a suicide or a homicide committed by law enforcement. He concluded it was a suicide.

Magana was on parole at the time of the shooting following a prison sentence for two counts of second-degree robbery, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He was released early because he received credits under good conduct and program participation guidelines. He had previously been convicted of possession of ammunition by a former felon and possession of a firearm by a felon in separate cases.

On Wednesday, LAPD officers were looking for a parolee at large, later identified as Magana, around 4 p.m. But when they found him, he was barricaded in a shed and supposedly refused to obey commands to surrender.

It was not immediately clear why the officers were looking for Magana in the first place.

K-9 officers were called in to help, and the officers used what police described as a gas “chemical agent” in another effort to force Magana to surrender.

Magana responded to the chemical agent by opening the shed and opening fire on the officers, hitting three of them.

SWAT robots were sent in to keep an eye on the suspect, and one fired gas into the shed.

The situation ended shortly before 9 p.m. Police later said the suspect was found and pronounced dead at the scene.