Armed girlfriend of CHP officer killed in Long Beach officer-involved shooting

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- An armed woman was shot and killed in an officer-involved shooting after an altercation involving an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer in Long Beach early Thursday, police said.

The shooting occurred about midnight in the 3000 block of Studebaker Road, according to Long Beach police.

Officers were dispatched to the location on a call of a person with a gun and shots fired. When officers arrived to the scene, they encountered the armed woman and her boyfriend, who police said is an off-duty CHP officer.

Authorities said the woman fired a gun at the CHP officer, and he dialed 911. The front and rear windows of a pick-up truck were shattered by the bullets.

"It sounded like about eight, nine pops in a row...and, like I said, my husband thought it was fireworks but I knew what fireworks sound like and I was like, 'That's not fireworks,'" resident Amy Anderson said.

After Long Beach police officers made contact with the armed female suspect, they tried to get her to put down the gun, but she did not comply. Instead, authorities said she pointed the gun at one of the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred.

Long Beach Fire Department crews administered life-saving measures but the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

No officers were injured in the shooting and a weapon was recovered at the scene.

Police said there were no other outstanding suspects in the incident.

The woman who was killed was identified as Michele Rice. She was a personal trainer at a local gym. Her manager described her as a good employee who always laughed.

Northbound and southbound Studebaker between Spring Street and Wardlow Road was closed as the investigation into the shooting continued. Because the shooting involved police, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office will investigate, authorities said.