The Los Angeles Police Department released Monday video footage showing the moment that Valentina Orellana Peralta, 14, was shot by an officer while firing three rounds at an assail suspect in a Burlington Coat Factory shop in North Hollywood.
Orellana Peralta was in Burlington trying on clothes with her mother on Thursday when an officer shot and killed her. Police Monday said that the bullet hit the wall of the dressing area after it bounced off the ground.
The officer also fatally shot Daniel Elena Lopez (24 years old), who was accused in a stabbing incident with customers using a bike lock. As The Guardian’s Sam Levin described the scene: “Roughly a dozen officers showed up at once, guns drawn. One officer in charge appears to briefly try to deescalate by saying ‘slow down’ and ‘get distance,’ but as soon as the officer actually sees Daniel, he escalates to lethal force, firing three bullets without pause or commands.”
“The video did not show the officer assessing whether there were any bystanders before shooting,” Levin observed.
LAPD released the compilation, which includes body-cam footage and surveillance clips as well as audio from 911 calls. (Warning: The video is disturbing):
The Orellana-Peralta family, who arrivedSix months ago, the U.S. from Chile hired Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer who represented the families Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Trayvon Martin. Crump and Orellana-Peralta’s parents are expected to hold a press conference Tuesday outside LAPD headquarters as the shooting sparks outrage nationwide.
“Just days before Christmas, Valentina Orellana-Peralta was trying on Quinceañera dresses with her mom when police started shooting at a suspect outside of the dressing rooms. A stray bullet from an officer’s assault rifle struck and killed Valentina,” Crump tweeted Monday. “Her death was preventable!”
The California Department of Justice is investigatingThe deadly shooting. As of Friday according toThe Los Angeles Times, “LAPD officers had shot at least 37 people in 2021, killing 17 of them — substantially more than they shot or killed in either of the last two years.”
“They have killed four people just in the last week, with two men killed in separate incidents on Saturday, and in the latest incident shot another man Christmas Eve,” the LA Times noted.
Orellana-Peralta’s attorneys on Monday sent the LAPD a letter demanding a transparent probe into Valentina’s killing and warning of possible legal action.
Albert Corado was a Los Angeles City Council candidate. His sister was shot and killed in 2018 by officers. toldThe LA Times on Friday that “there’s not a lot of will in the LAPD for them to change and there’s not a lot of will in City Hall, in city government, to hold the police accountable.”
“That gives the green light to police to keep doing it,” said Corado.
No officersIn July 2018, Melyda Costa, 27, was fatally shot by her boyfriend.
