Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
LA Police Video Shows Officer Shooting That Killed Bystander
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 years ago on
December 28, 2021

Share

 

Video released Monday showed Los Angeles police firing at a man suspected of assaulting customers last week at a clothing store, a shooting that also killed a 14-year-old girl hiding in a dressing room who was struck by a bullet that went through a wall.

The Los Angeles Police Department posted an edited video package online that included 911 calls, radio transmissions, body camera footage and surveillance video from the Thursday shooting at a Burlington store crowded with holiday shoppers. The department’s policy is to release video from critical incidents, such as police shootings, within 45 days.

Surveillance video showed the suspect attacking two women, including one who fell to the floor before he dragged her by her feet through the store’s aisles as she tried to crawl away.

Multiple 911 Calls

Multiple people including store employees called police to report a man striking customers with a bike lock at the store in the North Hollywood area of the San Fernando Valley. One caller told a 911 dispatcher that the man had a gun. No firearm — only the bike lock — was recovered at the scene.

The early surveillance footage showed a man in a tank top and shorts carrying a bicycle up the store’s escalator to the second floor, where he wandered around, seemingly disoriented, clutching a cable-style bike lock. At times he stood motionless, staring into the distance.

The footage later showed the man on the down escalator attacking a woman, who managed to escape his grip and run out of the store.

The man then left the store for a minute and a half, police said. After he returned, according to the video, he repeatedly beat a woman with a bike lock while she cowered on the floor. As she tried to escape, he dragged her through the aisle toward the dressing rooms.

In bodycam video, armed officers entered the store and approached the suspect.

Suspect, Bystander Killed by Police

“She’s bleeding!” an officer shouts as the victim crawled on the blood-stained floor and the suspect was on the other side of the aisle. At least one officer opened fire, striking the man.

The 24-year-old suspect, Daniel Elena Lopez, died at the scene. Also killed was Valentina Orellana-Peralta, 14, who was hiding with her mother inside a dressing room.

“At this preliminary phase of the investigation, it is believed that the victim was struck by one of the rounds fired by an officer at the suspect,” police Capt. Stacy Spell said in the posted video. Police believe the bullet skipped off the floor and struck the dressing room wall.

The investigation is just beginning and it could take up to a year or more to complete, Spell said. The California Department of Justice is also investigating.

“We at the LAPD would like to express our most heartfelt condolences and profound regret for the loss of this innocent victim, Valentina Orellana-Peralta. There are no words that can describe the depth of the sorrow we feel at this tragic outcome,” Spell said in the video.

Dramatic Rise in Shootings by LA Cops

The girl’s parents will appear with civil rights attorney Ben Crump at a news conference outside Los Angeles police headquarters on Tuesday.

LAPD officers have shot people 38 people — 18 of them fatally, including the shooting Sunday of a man with a knife — in 2021, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Those figures mark a dramatic rise in cases where officers shot or killed people in either of the last two years — 27 people were shot and 7 of them killed by LA police in all of 2020. In 2019, officers shot 26 people, killing 12.

Mourners left flowers and a votive candle outside the store on Christmas in a memorial for Orellana-Peralta.

The Times reported that Elena Lopez’s previous criminal history includes convictions for car theft, carrying a loaded gun in public and carrying a gun as a felon. He was transferred to the Los Angeles County jail to the custody of the state prison system but a spokeswoman for the corrections department would not release his commitment history to the newspaper because of the LAPD investigation.

The woman who was assaulted had moderate to serious injuries, including wounds to her head, arms and face. She has not been named publicly.

The shooting recalled a July 21, 2018, confrontation in which LAPD officers accidentally shot and killed a woman at a Trader Joe’s market. Officers got into a gunfight with a man who authorities say shot his grandmother and girlfriend before leading police on a chase that ended when he crashed his car outside the market.

Police shot and killed Melyda Corado, 27, the assistant store manager, as she ran toward the store’s entrance after hearing the car crash.

The suspect, Gene Evin Atkins, took employees and shoppers hostage for three hours before surrendering, authorities said.

Atkins has pleaded not guilty to the killing.

Prosecutors found two police officers acted lawfully when they returned Atkins’ gunfire.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Crews Battle Active Wildfire in Yokuts Valley

DON'T MISS

Not Quite ‘Hunger Games,’ but Fresno Budget Hearings Start

DON'T MISS

Clovis CPA Sentenced to Prison for $800K Bank Fraud Scheme

DON'T MISS

His Gang Name Is ‘Goer.’ Now Fresno County Man Is Going to Prison for 20 Years

DON'T MISS

Missing Woman Found Dead in Fresno County Canal Identified

DON'T MISS

Co-Conspirator Sentenced in Fraud Involving Loans to Bitwise

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Stephanie Marie Zamarripa

DON'T MISS

Why Trump Is Mad at ‘Sleazebag’ Leonard Leo

DON'T MISS

Trump Amplifies Outlandish Robot Biden Conspiracy Theory

DON'T MISS

Madera County Authorities Seek Public’s Help Locating Missing At-Risk Man

UP NEXT

California Plans to Ban Most Plants Within 5 Feet of Homes for Wildfire Safety

UP NEXT

Trump Trade War Has Already Had Huge Effect on California Ports

UP NEXT

How Gentrification Is Killing the Bus: California’s Rising Rents Are Pushing Out Commuters

UP NEXT

Medicaid Work Rules Could Leave a Million Californians With No Health Insurance

UP NEXT

California Lawmaker Won’t Be Charged After Citation for Suspicion of Impaired Driving

UP NEXT

Newsom Tussles With Local Officials Over Homelessness

UP NEXT

How Trump’s Vow to Revoke Chinese Student Visas Could Hurt California

UP NEXT

A Program Paying CA Jurors $100 a Day Would End Due to Newsom’s Budget Cuts

UP NEXT

‘I’m Really Scared’: Elderly and Disabled Californians Could Lose Medi-Cal Over $2,000 Limit

UP NEXT

California Avocado Growers Say Mexican Imports Have Helped Their Sales

His Gang Name Is ‘Goer.’ Now Fresno County Man Is Going to Prison for 20 Years

51 minutes ago

Missing Woman Found Dead in Fresno County Canal Identified

1 hour ago

Co-Conspirator Sentenced in Fraud Involving Loans to Bitwise

1 hour ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Stephanie Marie Zamarripa

1 hour ago

Why Trump Is Mad at ‘Sleazebag’ Leonard Leo

2 hours ago

Trump Amplifies Outlandish Robot Biden Conspiracy Theory

2 hours ago

Madera County Authorities Seek Public’s Help Locating Missing At-Risk Man

3 hours ago

Mattel Is Combining Film and Television Units to Create Mattel Studios

3 hours ago

Campbell’s Co. Says Sales Rise as More Americans Cook at Home

3 hours ago

US Judge Blocks Trump From Nixing Union Bargaining for TSA Officers

3 hours ago

Fresno County Crews Battle Active Wildfire in Yokuts Valley

Fire crews are responding Monday to a wildland blaze in Fresno County, where a fire broke out near Rector Lane and Elwood Road in Yokuts Val...

36 seconds ago

Fresno County fire crews are battling a wildland blaze in Yokuts Valley near Rector Lane, where the RECTOR incident has burned 10 acres with the potential to spread to 100 on Monday, June 2, 2025. (CalFire)
36 seconds ago

Fresno County Crews Battle Active Wildfire in Yokuts Valley

27 minutes ago

Not Quite ‘Hunger Games,’ but Fresno Budget Hearings Start

Photo of a laptop with a Department of Justice logo on the screens
41 minutes ago

Clovis CPA Sentenced to Prison for $800K Bank Fraud Scheme

51 minutes ago

His Gang Name Is ‘Goer.’ Now Fresno County Man Is Going to Prison for 20 Years

1 hour ago

Missing Woman Found Dead in Fresno County Canal Identified

1 hour ago

Co-Conspirator Sentenced in Fraud Involving Loans to Bitwise

Stephanie Marie Zamarripa is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for June 2, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
1 hour ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Stephanie Marie Zamarripa

2 hours ago

Why Trump Is Mad at ‘Sleazebag’ Leonard Leo

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend