GIRL, 14, IDENTIFIED IN FATAL LAPD SHOOTING

The girl shot by a Los Angeles police officer while she was in a dressing room Thursday was identified as 14-year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta, the county coroner’s office said Saturday, as the Los Angeles Police Department put the officer on paid leave and prepared to release video evidence and radio calls from the shooting.

Los Angeles police officers responded to reports of an assault at a Burlington department store in North Hollywood on Thursday, where they found a suspect and fired at him, Dominic Choi, assistant chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, said at a news conference.

The suspect, who was identified by the coroner’s office as 24-year-old Daniel Elena Lopez, was killed by police.

After the shooting, the authorities found a hole in a wall, Choi said, and behind it, found Valentina in the dressing room. She was pronounced dead at the scene, the department said in a statement. Her cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the coroner’s office.

Valentina, was to turn 15 in May, had been shopping for a dress for a quinceañera, the Los Angeles Times reported. She was with her mother when she was shot, the police said.

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said in a statement that he was “profoundly sorry for the loss of this young girl’s life,” adding, “I know there are no words that can relieve the unimaginable pain for the family.” The LAPD, the mayor’s “crisis response team” and City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez were assisting the girl’s family, the police said.

The police will release 911 and radio calls, body-camera video and surveillance camera footage by today, Moore said.

The officer who fired the shots was put on paid leave, said Stacy Spells, an LAPD spokesman, “consistent with department protocols.” The officer will “require a psychological evaluation and review by the chief of police before being able to return to duty,” said Spells, who refused to identify the officer, citing the need for a review.

The California Justice Department is investigating the shooting, the attorney general’s office said, as is required under California law when a police officer shoots and kills an unarmed civilian.

According to the LAPD’s “Use of Force-Tactics Directive” issued in 2020, officers should “consider their surroundings, background, and potential risk to bystanders to the extent reasonable” before firing. The dressing room was behind a wall “directly behind the suspect and out of the officers’ view,” the police said.

Tom Saggau, a spokesperson and board member of the Los Angeles Police Protective League labor union, told The Washington Post that the investigations process can take months or more.

“We pray for Valentina’s family as they cope with this tragedy and we also pray for the officer involved in this incident as he is heartsick over what occurred,” he said.

Tragedies such as Orellana-Peralta’s death are rare, but when they strike, they’re devastating to multiple parties, Saggau said.

“The officer is just devastated for the outcome and for the family,” Saggau said. “The guy had wrapped Christmas presents in his squad car to hand out to the community.”

The shooting days before Christmas drew criticism from some who saw parallels between Valentina’s death and the death in 2018 of 27year-old Melyda Corado, who was shot while working as an assistant store manager at a Trader Joe’s in Los Angeles when LAPD officers and a shooting suspect exchanged gunfire.

When police entered the Burlington store on Thursday, they had thought that the suspect was armed, though no firearm was found on or near him, Choi said. Officers found a “very heavy lock” near the suspect, which the police believe was involved in the assault that left a woman injured, Choi said.