Four persons have been detained in connection with the death of off-duty Los Angeles Police Officer Fernando Arroyos in an unincorporated region of South L.A. on Monday evening during an armed robbery.

Officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the arrests Wednesday morning, but declined to provide any specifics because doing so could jeopardise the current investigation. The police department refused to reveal any information on their arrests, including if they were detained on suspicion of murder or other offences.

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The arrest comes after the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau Capt. Joe Mendoza announced on Tuesday that his detectives had detained five people — three men and two women — for interrogation in connection with the crime. Mendoza said his detectives were looking into a link to a second wounded guy discovered in the Florence-Firestone neighbourhood on Monday evening.

Fernando Arroyos, 27, had just finished a series of days on patrol and had a day off on Monday when he accompanied his fiancée “on a hunt for a house, a place to live, a place to buy and invest in the city and in the future of this region,” according to LAPD Chief Michel Moore.

When three suspects drove up, they had just parked their car and were crossing a street to look at a house. Moore said, “The officer yelled for his girlfriend to leave to run to go back to the car,” before exchanging shots with the criminals.

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Officials reported that when L.A. County sheriff’s deputies from the Century station arrived on the scene, they drove the wounded officer to St. Francis Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Moore stated Tuesday during a meeting of the Police Commission that Arroyos had been with the LAPD for three years, was assigned to the Olympic Division, and had “a very promising career” ahead of him.

Two guns were seized at the scene of the incident, which occurred around 9:15 p.m. Monday in the 8700 block of Beach Street in Florence-Firestone, according to Moore.

“We do have our officer’s gun, and we have an additional weapon that we believe was responsible for this assault,” Moore added.

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Since the pandemic began, Florence-Firestone has been one of the most hit communities in Los Angeles, with a spike in killings. According to figures from the county coroner’s office, there were 24 homicides in the neighbourhood in the first 11 months of last year, compared to nine in 2020 and 12 in 2019. According to the figures, last year’s total was the highest in a decade.

According to the homicide numbers, Florence-Firestone and neighbouring Watts, which both experienced more than 20 homicides in 2021, encompass less than six square miles combined but accounted for over a sixth of the city’s 397 homicides in 2021.

A vigil will be held at the Olympic station where Arroyos worked on Thursday at 6pm.

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Lt. Rex Ingram, who oversaw Arroyos and spoke with him frequently at Olympic Division, said Arroyos had two life goals: to be the first in his family to attend college and to become an LAPD officer, both of which he exceeded.

“The first time I read one of his reports, I knew his writing skills were far superior to his peers and, frankly, some ways above the ability of his superiors,” Ingram said. “So, I asked him where he went to school, and he, being humble, says ‘LAUSD.’ And I reply, ‘Which college?’ and he says, ‘Cal Berkeley.’”

Arroyos was a devoted Christian who grew up in a home with his mother, grandmother, and stepfather. He went to 42nd Street Elementary School and Audubon Middle School before graduating from Crenshaw High School and going to Berkeley to study legal studies, according to Ingram.

“He could have gone to law school or FBI like his peers with that education, but he wanted to serve his community and give back,” Ingram said. “He loved his community. … He was very close to his family.”

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Arroyos met his girlfriend two years ago at a dry cleaning shop in southwest L.A., according to Ingram.

“They were looking to get a home in the area,” Ingram said. “This was the humblest and happiest guy I know on the job. This couldn’t happen to a nicer person.”