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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
LAPD officer will not face criminal charges in killing of 14-year-old
girl at store during police confrontation with suspect
By Aya Elamroussi and Taylor Romine, CNN
Updated:
3:25 PM EDT, Thu April 18, 2024
Source: CNN
A Los Angeles Police Department officer will not face criminal charges
in the 2021 killed inside a department store when police fired at a man
suspected of attacking a woman, California prosecutors said Wednesday.
and her mother were holding one another and praying in the dressing
room of the Burlington Coat Factory in North Hollywood, California,
after a man began attacking customers in the store on December 23,
2021, police previously said.
When police arrived and confronted the suspect with gunfire, an
officer’s bullet pierced through the wall and fatally struck
Valentina, who was pronounced dead on scene. Police also fatally shot
24-year-old suspect Daniel Elena-Lopez.
The California Department of Justice Wednesday detailing the findings
of its investigation into the shooting, which determined that no
criminal charges will be filed against the officer who killed the
teenager.
“We conclude that no criminal charges will be filed because the
evidence is insufficient to prove that [the officer] committed a
crime,” the California Department of Justice said in its
investigative report.
Greg Meyer, a law enforcement expert who reviewed the case, concluded
that there was not enough time for the officer “or any other officer
to attempt de-escalation tactics in this situation,” according to the
report. Meyer noted Valentina’s fatal shooting “was a tragic but
unforeseeable accident,” according to the report.
“Due to pending civil litigation, the Los Angeles Police Department
cannot comment on this matter,” Drake Madison, an LAPD officer, said
Thursday.
CNN has reached out to the attorney representing Valentina’s family
for comment.
“This case was a particularly challenging one to process as this
involved the loss of two lives,” California Attorney General Rob
Bonta said in a statement. “Any loss of life is a tragedy, and my
heart goes out especially to the family of Valentina Orellana Peralta,
who tragically lost her life and whose only involvement in this
incident was by being at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
How the shooting unfolded
At the time of incident in December 2021, police were responding to
multiple calls of suspected assault and a possible shooting unfolding
inside Burlington Coat Factory.
Police and police body camera videos showing events leading to the
teenager’s killing.
A video shows Daniel Elena-Lopez, the suspect, entering department
store with his bike and wearing a tank top and shorts. He then takes
the escalator upstairs with his bike.
Shortly after, he returns to the escalators wearing a multicolored
jacket and long pants before swinging his bike lock at customers,
police said at the time. He is also seen attacking several customers.
Several body camera videos released by police show a woman on the floor
covered in blood as officers arrive and try to find the suspect, who
was a short distance away, police said.
Elena-Lopez was at the end of an aisle about 12 feet from the bloodied
woman and holding a “dark object” in his hand when the officer
stepped into the aisle, according to the newly released California
Department of Justice report.
An officer can be heard on the body camera footage firing three bullets
toward the suspect, who later falls to the ground. The officer had
fired a Colt AR-15 patrol rifle, according to the justice department
report.
A bullet aimed at the suspect passed through the wall, striking
Valentina in the chest and killing her, coroner .
The bullet had hit the floor and changed direction before entering the
wall of a fitting room, according to the report.
Meyer, the law enforcement expert, concluded that time and
circumstances “did not allow for planning and assessment of such
factors as the potential for an unseen innocent person being in the
background, rifle bullet penetration capability, or assessment of the
physical structure of the walls behind the suspect,” according to the
report.
“The evidence does not show, beyond a reasonable doubt, that [the
officer] acted without the intent to defend himself and others from
what he reasonably believed to be imminent death or serious bodily
injury,” the department of justice said in the report.
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