The suspected 29-year-old gunman who opened fire at a Los Angeles Police Department station on Monday night, injuring an officer, aspired to be a police officer, the gunman’s father said Tuesday.

Danny Yealu, 58, said his son, suspected gunman Daniel C. Yealu, told him last year he applied to the police academy, but had been rejected. The senior Yealu said his son was working as a security guard, and that he showed no signs of violence or warning signs before the shooting Monday night.

Daniel C. Yealu is accused of walking into the West Bureau Traffic lobby at the LAPD Wilshire Division on Venice Boulevard during a community meeting and opening fire at about 8 p.m. on Monday.

Yealu hit one officer seven times. The officer is expected to survive.

The injured officer returned fire on Yealu, who was hospitalized and in critical condition as of Tuesday.

After the shooting Monday, police searched Yealu’s apartment and his vehicle. They found a “heavily modified” AK-47, a 9-mm handgun, a semiautomatic Sig Saur handgun, an AR-15-style assault rifle, a 1960s SKS model assault rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun. Hundreds of rounds of ammunition were also found, police said. The vehicle in question was parked outside the LAPD Wilshire Division.

“By the grace of God, the suspect did not come in with the assault weapons that he has had access to, one of which I believe was in his vehicle parked right out front,” said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck.

Officials said that Yealu’s motive behind the shooting remained unclear. Investigators were looking into whether the shooter would have tried to shoot others had he not been stopped, officials said.

“The belief was he was going to go a lot further than just the two people at the front desk,” Los Angeles Police Commission President Steve Soboroff said.

Yealu faces charges of attempted murder.

Image via Wikimedia Commons