Bodycam footage has been released showing the moment when officers killed a man and young girl in a Burlington Coat Factory.
The tragic incident took place last Thursday at a Burlington Coat Factory in North Hollywood as police were responding to reports of a man attacking shoppers with a bike lock and chain. When officers arrived, they canvassed the store with their weapons drawn. They came upon blood splattered on the floor and an injured woman nearby the suspect. As the attacker stood in the aisle, only one officer fired three rounds, killing the man identified as 24-year-old Daniel Elena Lopez. During the violent encounter, police were unaware that a 14-year-old girl was hiding in a dressing room behind the suspect, and one of their bullets ricocheted off the ground and pierced the dressing room wall, striking her in the chest. Her mother was also in the room with her but was unharmed.
The teenage girl, identified as Valentina Orellana-Peralta, was in the store shopping for her upcoming birthday party. She was not involved in the situation that originally summoned officers to the store. The LAPD felt that deadly force was necessary since the suspect had already attacked three women in the store, inflicting serious injuries on them with the bike lock and chain.
The officer who fired at the suspect with a long rifle had been ordered to “slow down” over a dozen times by other responding officers. The bodycam footage also shows that the police did not give any commands to the suspect before the lone officer began firing at him. His identity has not been made public, and he is now on administrative leave as the investigation continues.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner-coroner ruled Orellana-Peralta’s death a homicide.
