California won't prosecute LAPD officer who shot teenage girl in store's dressing room
calmatters.org
The California Justice Department announced today that it has found no cause to file chargesagainst a Los Angeles police officer who, while aiming at a suspect, shot and killed a 14-year-old girl hiding in a department store fitting room.
Fourteen-year-old Valentina Orellana Peralta was picking out a quinceanera dress with her mother just before Christmas in 2021. She was shot and killed by a bullet that ricocheted off the floor.
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Sounds like an honest accident to me. I don't think we should punish people for accidents or for the very least it should be taken into consideration in the sentencing. He was there after an active shooter. That takes courage - we need people like him.
Any asshole with a gun can shoot it. If you want courage, you want officers who are professionals, trained to de-escalate, contain and protect, not militant thugs who spray rounds at the spray rounds at the slightest provocation with no regard for bystanders
One of which had a shotgun, the rest were armed with either their service pistols or non-lethal, the officer with the AR-15 took point because he had the most effective weapon for the sorts of long ranges you would see in a large department store with a reported active shooter
It was not about deescalating, this was a (in two separate 911 calls from people in the store) reported active shooter in a now unknown location, and the officers were attempting to follow their training by forming into a group and slowly moving through the store to find and eliminate the threat, they were telling him to slow down because he was pushing ahead out of formation (I believe upon seeing the woman that was attacked, blood streaming down from the multiple lacerations on her head and face, attempting to crawl towards them for help)
Lethal force is certainly authorized in (what is believed to be) an active shooter situation, with hindsight we can say he didn't have a gun but the officers at the time not only didn't know that, they were told the opposite, he was both armed and had already fired the weapon. Upon spotting the suspect, he was holding something (a painting) in front of him, concealing half of his body, and with a gun trained on him made a rapid movement with his free hand behind the painting, which is ultimately what got him shot
The officer fired three rounds, one of which either missed or over penetrated, ricocheted off of the ground, and then penetrated a wall to unfortunately kill an innocent bystander hiding in a changing room behind
Cops are overwhelmingly shit and need better training, but aside from the almost freak accident killing of the innocent bystander, this was more or less a textbook handling of an active shooter situation by police who probably have never otherwise responded to one in their life, without the two errant 911 callers who apparently mistook breaking glass for gunshots the response would have likely been very different
The purpose of firing a gun is to take a life. It's not a freak accident that this cop pulled the trigger and someone died. That's what the weapon is explicitly designed to do. It's also the reason cops should not be drawing guns as their first response.
He was there after an active bike lock swinger. Get the facts straight before you get to licking boots.
I mean, there was an active shooter.
That was just shooting at all the things (like the floor), not even aiming. I wonder how many shots it took the active shooter to realise he was the only active shooter. Or was that completely besides the point of wanting desperately to use that gun?
Three shots, one of which ricocheted off the ground, penetrated a wall, and killed the 14 year old hiding in the changing room behind where the shooting took place
He thought it was an active shooter so the courage it takes to go in is the same even if it turns out later that it wasn't. Calling me a bootlicker is a completely unecessary ad-hominem.
Do you think maybe the cop was lying about mistaking the bicycle lock for a gun considering bicycle locks do not look remotely like guns and lying about it would give him cover?
Just astounding what people will accept as truth from cops. If I said "I saw someone swinging a bicycle lock around and I thought they had a gun instead so I shot them," no one would buy that excuse. But if a cop says it?
Maybe their bootshine taste delicious? Can't see any other reasons
He thought it was time to play commando and ignored the more sensible and responsible officers around him. But you'll believe his lies and consider him a hero despite his absolute incompetence causing the death of an innocent young woman. I hope the boot polish gives you cancer.
These MFS think acorns are gunshots. We cannot trust them to tell the truth about what the felt in the moment. It's a problem whether or not you can sympathize with the officer.
Yes, every other cop there knew and tried to get him not to shoot but he was the special snowflake that day so his idiocy must be respected.
How about no, and you should really be fucking ashamed of your pandering ass. Imagine one of your loved ones was murdered by a cop who was just being brave….you’d be fine with that? Don’t answer, just gtfo.
I AGREE! I don't care HOW MANY INNOCENT CHILDREN DIE, we need MORE COPS COURAGEOUSLY killing people armed with bike locks!