Seven-time felon charged with using machine gun in shooting that injured LAPD officers

A man whose record includes seven felony convictions now faces an attempted murder charge after prosecutors say he opened fire with a machine gun on two Los Angeles police officers, grazing one of them.

Malcolm Darnell Guss Jr. is accused of using a fully automatic AR-style rifle to shoot at Officers Stefan Carutasu and Joshua Rodney after they tried to stop his white Chevrolet sedan at around 9:30 p.m. on July 3 in Willowbrook near Broadway and Rosecrans Avenue, just south of Los Angeles.

Guss allegedly unloaded on the officers before they could get out of their patrol car, resulting in two graze wounds to the head. Both officers suffered lacerations from the glass fragments of the patrol vehicle’s windshield. Guss fled the scene but was apprehended July 12. On Tuesday, he pleaded not guilty in Compton court to attempted murder and other charges for allegedly using a machine gun in the attack.

Court records show Guss’ prior convictions include two strikes for residential burglaries in July 2014 and December 2018. Since 2020 he’s been charged three times with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In December 2020, records show, Guss was arrested with drugs and a gun by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies. He was sentenced to two years in prison after striking a deal to plead no contest to a single felony charge in March 2021. That same month, he received another two-year sentence in a separate gun case that stemmed from a September 2020 incident.

The district attorney’s office in a statement said the two convictions had concurrent prison sentences

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Guss was arrested again in the Antelope Valley in May 2022, charged with resisting arrest and assault with a deadly weapon. He pleaded no contest to the resisting offense and got 16 months in prison, according to court records.

In February 2023, a judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest after he allegedly violated the terms of his release. LAPD officers in Newton Division arrested Guss on July 10, but he was released a month later, county jail records show.

Announcing the charges Tuesday, Dist. Atty. George Gascón said Guss opened fire “during what should have been a routine traffic stop,” and called the incident “absolutely horrific.”

“This unprovoked attack is a stark reminder of the dangers our law enforcement officers confront,” Gascón said. “This act of violence is not only an assault on the officers, but also on the values of safety and justice of our community.”

Jamie McBride, vice president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents rank and file officers, called Guss “a coward.”

“There’s only two places for him. Life in prison or six feet down,” McBride said.

Guss is due back in court on Aug. 10. He is being held with bail set at just over $2 million.

The district attorney’s office said a conviction would subject Guss to sentencing under the state’s “three strikes” law. He faces a maximum of life in prison.