The frantic, violent minutes leading up to the deadly Los Angeles police shooting of an assault suspect at a clothes store, as well as a 14-year-old girl caught in the line of fire while cowering inside a changing room, were seen on body-camera video published on Monday.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the stray bullet that pierced the fitting-room wall and killed the girl came from the gun of the police officer witnessed firing three rifle shots at the suspect.
Police have not released the identity of the girl who died in the incident on December 23. Valentina Orellana-Peralta, according to local media, was out shopping with her mother for an outfit for her impending quinceanera, a 15th birthday celebration in Hispanic culture.
The kid was born and reared in Santiago, Chile, and came to the United States six months ago with her mother to visit an older sister.
The cops assigned to the business were reacting to various radio calls of a probable assault and shooting in progress.
Police released a video on Monday showing the bearded, burly suspect, Daniel Elena-Lopez, 24, entering the business on his bicycle and behaving abnormally before threatening and accosting numerous customers.
On the store surveillance camera, the man is seen knocking a woman to the ground and dragging her across the floor away from her shopping cart as he bludgeons her with a bicycle cable lock. As numerous police officers approach the man with their firearms drawn, the pounding continues.
The cop can be heard saying, “She’s bleeding, she’s bleeding,” immediately before he rounds a corner and approaches Elena-Lopez while the woman tries to crawl away, in a separate audio-video clip taken from bodycam footage of the officer closest to the culprit.
As the cop lifts his gun and shoots the suspect dead, the suspect is seen standing with his back to the outside of the fitting room, a few yards (meters) away from the bleeding victim.
According to authorities, the bludgeoned woman was taken to the hospital with injuries to her head and arms.
LAPD spokeswoman Captain Stacy Spell said in a statement accompanying the videos that the 14-year-old girl, who had been in the dressing area with her mother, was located in the fitting room as police scoured the store for further victims.
According to an LAPD official, the officer who fired the bullets has been placed on administrative leave while the inquiry is ongoing. According to authorities, the suspect was not in possession of a firearm.
Chief Michel Moore of the Los Angeles Police Department made a statement promising a “thorough, complete, and transparent” inquiry into the “devastating” event. An independent probe was also to be launched by the California attorney general’s office.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the young girl died in her mother’s arms as she worked on paperwork to stay in the United States permanently with her daughter.
