A teenage girl died last Thursday following an officer-involved shooting at a Burlington Coat Factory in North Hollywood, CA. Footage of the incident was released this week on social media.
Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) were responding to an assault with a deadly weapon “in progress” at around 11:45 a.m. on Dec. 23.
When officers arrived on the scene they found an injured adult female who was the victim of the initial attack. Moments later, officers engaged the male suspect allegedly responsible. Investigators identified him as 24-year-old Daniel Elena-Lopez.
Officers fired several shots in the direction of Lopez, fatally wounding him.
Tragically, in a changing room behind a wall, 14-year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta was also struck by a projectile. She was hiding out with her mother during the chaos.
Valentina was hit in the chest, according to the coroner’s report. Despite efforts by first responders, she would succumb to her wound.
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“The girl’s American dream has been taken from her,” Valentina’s uncle, Rodrigo Orellana, told CNN affiliate Chilevision.
“Everyone fled to dressing rooms and, unfortunately, the bullet found her,” he continued. “They’re supposed to be the best police department in the world and they shot her.”
LAPD Police Chief Michel R. Moore apologized to the family in a statement.
“I am profoundly sorry for the loss of this young girl’s life and I know there are no words that can relieve the unimaginable pain for the family,” he said.
“My commitment is to conduct a thorough, complete and transparent investigation into the circumstances that led up to this tragedy and provide the family and public with as much information as possible,” he continued.
Chief Moore indicated that the prompt release of the 9-1-1 calls, radio transmissions, body cam footage, and store surveillance were done to ensure transparency.
Along with the LAPD’s ongoing investigation, the California DOJ will also conduct a probe.
Stay tuned for updates.
(Cover photo: LAPD/Screengrab)
As a Marine Corps Veteran and Police officer I see this shooting as gross negligence and definitely not a clean shoot, anyone that knows ANYTHING about 5.56/.223 ammunition knows that it is a high velocity bullet and will easily go through a body at close quarters unless it hits bone and even if it hits bone and fragments it is still able to bounce around and come out with such force to injure others. With that being said even if this shot hit his subject clean there is still a good chance that due to his proximity to the subject and the bullets velocity that it would continue on through and find its way to another target behind the subject before coming to a halt, which means it’s extremely easy/highly probable for it to penitrate a thin department store drywall built for a dressing room even with his bullet hitting and passing through his target. So just imagine this same ammunition that is capable of doing that completely missing his subject entirely and having a free for all right into the concrete then through a thin dressing room drywall. This is just blatant reckless stupidity by this uneducated officer who is allowed to be issued and use such a weapon at his discretion when he (and more than likely most of the police force) have no reason to pick up and handle said weapon without clearly knowing when and how to use a rifle with high velocity ammunition in close quarters when there are vulnerable bystanders in proximity of your target. With so many other officers there who were not carrying a weapon using high velocity ammunition this should have been a complete last resort but instead we have another trigger happy füćkïnģ moron who was rushing to the subject while being told to SLOW DOWN just to use his weapon. He has absolutely no reason he should be issued such a weapon when he obviously lacks the education/weapons safety of the capabilities of said ammunition with this rifle. Fücķ the thin blue line, I’ll cross it any day and speak up when it comes to stupid śhït like this that never needs to happen and is easily avoidable. My heart goes out to Valentina’s family and especially her mother who had to be there and hold her daughter in her arms while she bled out and passed away due to this doüchebäg Barney.
I will have to agree with several other commenters, I did not understand why the LEO with the rifle needed to push himself to the front of the line of other offers with pistols, and a rifle would not seem to be a proper choice of weapon in a store. But maybe that is LA protocol. Yes, a .22 through a wall can kill someone just as well as the .223, but the 9MM traveling at 1200FPS instead of a .223 at 3000+, maybe, just maybe would have been decelerated enough by the ricochet and the wall that the girls injury would not have been terminal. Ultimately, like Floyd, the real issue for what unfolded here is the criminal not doing what the LEO instructed, something you were supposed to learn when you were 5. But, then again, he would not be a criminal if he learned those kindergarten life lessons.
This is what happens when the anti American leftists make it a crime for citizens to defend themselves. What happened is a tragedy, but accidents happen. The cop will have to live with what happened. Anyone talking bets on that scumbag being one of the democrats beloved ‘dreamers’?? If only one of those women were armed and able to defend themselves…
Deadly force was not necessary in this instance. Secondly the AR 15 was not the right weapon for this incident. Wake the fuck up LAPD. ANOTHER INNOCENT CHILD DEAD!!!!
A pistol, even my .22LR will penetrate a wall…
Easy to say things like this from your couch. When things get real and you are one of the main subjects involved during what was reported as an active shooter/ dangerous man with a weapon who had already attacked multiple people. I’m sure you would have been calm and cool and said to yourself no problem I’ll bring my 9mm and if things get to heavy I’ll handle it. (Sure thing) These officers were confronting a real threat, they approached the situation exactly the way you would want them to have done if you were the one being attacked. This was a terrible accident, that had nothing to do with training , or caliber of weapon.
No, Delco, not an “active shooter.” The bad guy had a bike lock and this trigger-happy coward chose to start blasting away with his M-4 like a reckless moron. Bad shoot by the LAPD. We’re probably the only “civilized” country whose police force would’ve chosen that approach to the problem.
Justified? Maybe or maybe not. The question is was deadly force necessary to take down one man armed with a bicycle lock or could 20+ officers take him with tasers and pepper?
I suppose I’m in the minority. Blame for the girl’s death lies entirely on the monster assaulting women with a deadly weapon. He bears ALL responsibility for everything that took place. He should pay by spending the rest of his life in secure lockup.
He is locked up in the morgue. He’s dead.
As sad as it was , what happened to the mayor of Chicagos statement of some must die for the cause . Guess that only works for the delusional democrats . When the blm killed a young black girl that was the answer they gave and no one was convicted of that crime . But if a police officer has something happen like this , you can see how the rules change . Even tho the cop was after a criminal it doesn’t matter , while the blm and antfia kill at will . When did the laws change to favor the criminal more then the victims . Thatscthe right question to ask
my condolences to the family
What happened is inexcusable. You don’t have a choice but to assume that there’s definitely someone their. Even though you can’t see anyone. If this was a civilian that had done this they would have been arrested on the spot. I realize that it’s a stressful job, but the old saying is if you can’t take the heat, then you shouldn’t be in that line of work.
Just like the Liberats in Holiwood that are anti gun, anti police anti anything that doesn’t fit their process of thoughts. Hence what Baldwin did, and and armorer that had no business doing such a job
why are cops using .223 ARs in a situation like this anyway? A 9mm version might still have went through the wall and killed the poor kid but the chances of that happening are far less using say hollow point 9mm ammo vs FMJ 5.56 – plus police aren’t supposed to be shooting at perps at long distance anyway typically so the 9mm version would likely be more effective at close range and safer for innocent bystanders as well
Well, you know what they say, opinions are like butt holes, everybody has one and most stink. So here’s my armchair quarterback ‘opinion’.
Putting aside the anti 2nd amendment stance and the right to CCW in the fine state of Kalifornia, and knowing had there been a CCW in that building this may never have gone this far, and knowing this obviously drunken probable illegal POS from south-of-the-boarder thanks to our illustrious brain dead president, this is clearly a case of an over zealous want-a-be hero police officer.
Clearly from the audio and video he knew he was advancing ahead armed with a high powered rifle compared to the officer he ordered out of the way armed with a shotgun, which in this case would have been the better choice of weapons in this unfortunate situation because of a lesser chance for over-penetration. Could the shotgun have penetrated two layers of drywall had he missed? Yes, of course, as would a handgun. But did his rounds pass through the drunken POS and kill the child, or did he miss his target all together? LA is known to have overzealous police officers and I wonder if this is the case. Rule number one when shooting a firearm – know your target and what’s behind it.
As a civilian with a CPL (Michigan Concealed Pistol License) and a separated Marine, we are responsible for every round that comes out of our weapon. If I live in an apartment, shoot an intruder and some of my rounds go through a wall and injure or kill someone in in the next apartment, we are guilty. Cops need to be held to the same standard if not a higher one. Maybe they should have military training. I see stories about cops conducting stupid acts with their fire arms that would not be tolerated in the Marines.
Haha, most cops do have military training. A lot were military. I wudnt even say military training is better than theirs. But yeah, that’s your bullet. When it comes down to it, it’s got your name on it still so you’re responsible for it
At 69 I have been Gunning since I was 2, so I know a little about guns, safety, LE, and such. I watched this one and told myself, he did not have to shoot, yet he had the right by law to shoot (maybe), he forgot or never really learned the rules Of The Gun. For over 20 years I have watched how our cops behave today vs how they behaved 20 or more years ago, and I know our world is a slightly more dangerous place today, but it is in the way our cops have been trained over the past 20 plus years that causes most of their and our problems. If we train them to shoot to soon, and way to many rounds, the end result is a lot of needless and often innocent lives being taking by cops. Sorry, but true. The last few years a whole bunch of us are starting to see this, and cops will be Un Brained Washed by better training. Hate me if you want, but just watch as we can no longer go down the path we are on. Simple example, if a cop has the right to defend themselves then all of Us should have those same rights, and we don’t. And, we should not because we have made it way to easy for cops to Kill without much thought going into the process. It hurts our cops and all of us. Back tothis shooting, he forgot what was behind his line of sight, the guy was running away, back turned, and into the arms of more officers. He has a long gun which means he had a really good chance of stopping any threat within 30 feet of him provided he did not miss, and he decided to fire away and at least he stopped at 3 rounds as The Mom could have been killed it he dumped a few more rounds. The cop might be the best person in the world, but we have trained them to do things this way. Our Bad, and if not our bad, then give me the same rights to defend myself. God Bless Us All
The GunsAmerica bait-headline question, “LAPD to blame for teen’s death?” got me here and the answer is: No…certainly not anything criminally, negligently, etc. To the father and other relatives of the girl who wonder how “the best PD in the world” could have done this…well…they’re human/not perfect, they don’t have x-ray vision, and there was little if nothing that in the heat of that moment, in that background, that would have raised a significant red flag of obvious risk to fire. It was simply, if tragically, an accident of wrong place/wrong time proportions.
Just another day of serving and protecting!
No consequences!
Let’s give them all RPGs so they can better serve and protect.
Mac, you’re overlooking one thing. Did the officer have to shoot? Was the perp a deadly threat several feet away with no firearm, only a bike lock, and surrounded by about 20 officers? I don’t think so. I believe a taser or pepper spray would have been sufficient to take him down if 20 men in blue couldn’t. As for the perp, yes, he got what he asked for, but because deadly force was used when IMHO there were other options, and an innocent bystander was killed.
As a Marine Corps Veteran and a police officer I can tell you with certainty that yes before you take a shot you should/must have in mind what is behind and around your target especially while firing 5.56/.223 ammunition because it is a high velocity bullet. Even while shooting and hitting a subject it has enough energy to hit your target and still go cleanly through and continue on to what’s behind them if it does not hit bone and fragment inside the body. There was absolutely no need for this officer to take point with an AR-15 inside of a department store when there were more than likey other civilians in the vicinity (which was unfortunately the case here) and especially when there were other officers there that were carrying a less-leathal weapon, a shotgun, and pistols which all were not high velocity ammunition and would mitigate the risk of having something such as this happen. This was a bad shoot. This officer was extremely overzealous, pushing his way to the point position in front of other officers while being told to SLOW down by other officers (slow is smooth and smooth is fast). The subject was no longer a threat to the victim on the floor at that moment seeing how he was at least 10-15 feet away from her, this officer gave no verbal commands to the subject nor did this subject make any sudden movements to put this officer in inimate danger, he was just trigger happy and did not take into account his surroundings. He obviously did not have the knowledge/education to be handling a weapon that fires high velocity ammunition otherwise he would have known that his bullets had the possibility of continuing through to what was behind the subject nor did he take into account that there might have been civilians in the dressing rooms even though it was mentioned that the subject was located in front of the dressing room as the officers were closing in on the subject. Unfortunately a young girl lost her life due to one police officer making extremely poor decisions. My heart goes out to her family but especially her mother who held her baby girl as she was bleeding out in her arms.
Wrong, Mac. The answer is clearly “YES,” the LAPD and specifically this officer is to blame for the teen’s death. It was an unnecessary and negligent shoot. Especially since they DON’T have x-ray vision that absolutely need to consider their backdrop and whether it was even necessary to shoot the bad guy with the bike lock, which the stupid cop didn’t. He should be tried for manslaughter.
I agree with the German police officer. It is a sad state in the U.S. that the police are acting as executioners. Officer needs to be dismissed and taken to court for his actions. Police officers need to be retrained but it’s too late for the poor 14yr. old and her family. Very sad. Very sad.
So under California Law…. Anyone killed during the process of somebody committing a Felony….
Would result in that Felon being charged with the Death. At least that was the way it USED to be. Now they just let out criminals with No Bail. So the same criminal can go right back to being criminals.
A very sad situation. Nobody seems to care at all about the Original Victim of the Felon.
The ?executioners” were the fool that shot Ashley Babbitt (sp?) not the LA Cop. That was unintentional. I do NOT remeber the “German” guy ever saying anything about that case.
Odd thing to say…”Her American dream has been taken from her”.🤔
One of the first rules learned by every operator, every officer, every hunter, every gun owner… When you pull the trigger, you are responsible for the ENTIRE flight of the bullet.
Similar to home defense situations, one of the most reckless firearms to deploy in a crowded area or an area where you cannot control the backstop is a rifle, especially an AR. The projectile is simply too penetrative and travel beyond the initial target should always be expected.
Yes it penetrates very well. Shotgun with buckshot would have been the Preferred Weapon. However the reality is that cops CANNOT see through walls.
Firearms Safety Rules:
Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.
Hmmm…….not applicable here???
Totally wrong weapon for that environment. TOTALLY! And to shoot without knowing what was downrange is irresponsible. I feel sorry for the officer, but he made some really bad decisions here. Time for LAPD to reassess their weapons program.
agreed – using a rifle in a close range indoor environment like this with innocent bystanders all around is a terrible choice. A shotgun with say #2 or BB shot or similar would have more take down power while not going through walls, floors, ceilings etc
They are investigating this officer, for something that shouldnt have happened, but Alec Baldwin was just an accident.
When I was growing up drawing a weapon by a cop was a rare thing. I saw one (1) cop clean out a strip joint with a night stick in one hand and a blackjack in the other. They dont hire cops like that anymore…too violent.
I’m a German police officer and I honestly find the analysis by the other commenters, suggesting the shooting was basically perfectly fine, mind blowing.
The subject already left the victim bleeding on the floor and he was retreating. At least 5-6 meters away from the officers and only partly visible. And yet the shot in his direction apparently killing him AND a child.
To see the media and others say, “Well, that’s unfortunate but the shooting was good” is just plainly INSANE. They could have easily taken him down physically, we do that all the time here.
Worry about your own politics and not America’s. Please and thank you!
Well, l I’m an American police officer and my German colleague is absolutely right. This tragedy has nothing to do with politics, imbecile, poor tactics are poor tactics.
I definitely agree with you J to the B
Wrong, E. Alexander is right. There was NO need to shoot in this scenario. None. Absolutely a bad shoot. The criminal was no longer posing an imminent threat to the woman he’d beaten (she had retreated), nor was he an imminent threat to the cops given his only weapon was a bike lock, he was turning away, and was surrounded by a dozen of LAPD’s “finest” (LOL!) who had dozens of other ways to subdue him rather than blazing away with their rifles and killing innocent children in the process.
If I was sitting on the jury, and given all the 911 calls made by people calling for help, the context which the officer assume possible gun on suspect is reasonable. One of the worst thing people do when calling the police is they add assumptions. The 911 dispatch kept asking one caller did you a gun when she reported a gun. The caller hesitated and decided to say yes just in case it was a gun because she probably did not want to be wrong and assume no gun. One of the ways to solve this problem is to educate the public to give precise info and observations and not make assumptions. That should be part of active shooter education in stores and offices. If cops go in and a gun was reported they will shoot if they encounter a suspect. It is part of the active shooter training.
Alright, I have only read the article and saw the above video with the body cam footage, so I do not want to write something like “Yeah, the cops should have done this or that.”. What I just want to write down is, from my personal opinion, based ONLY from reading this article and from watching the video published by the LAPD, that the shooting itself was likely justified. After all, the suspect viciously attacked innocent people without any reason and only God knows what he could have done next.
Now, to the innocent girl that has lost her life: According to my personal opinion, one should not held the officer responsible for the death of the girl. After all, this must be a one in a million chance that a bullet goes right into the wall, gets out at the other side and even kills someone hiding right there. There was no way for the officer to know about that and if he would be held responsible for this, then no cop could ever fire a single shot again to stop a suspect anywhere in this country, just because of the fear that one of the bullets may fly straight through a wall and hurt/kill some innocent person at the other side.
Again, this is just my own opinion about what happened, but if GunsAmerica can provide us with updates, as promised at the end of this article, then I will be happy to read and learn more about it, because I am very interested about the outcome.
if you watch the video,this fat headed black cop push his way past other officers who had non lethal weapons,all he wanted was the kill and his name splashed up in headlines,well he got his wish,the dumb ass!! i watched this on bit chute and the guy there did it in slow motion ,his partners were screaming,slow down jones,slow down. wait jones wait! this pig headed cop charged in like a bull in a china shop spraying and praying,IN A DEPT. STORE FOR CHRIST”S SAKE!!!! he should go to jail for mansalaughter of that girl,and i hope the family sues the shit out of the LAPD,,maybe then they’ll start hiring people qualified for the job and not based on their skin color or sex!
You are right about the cop trying to push the other officers aside and asking them to let him go forward with the rifle, I have noticed this as well. This may play out bad for him, just as having shots fired right inside a shop, we’ll definitely have to see about that.
I agree the suspect was bad but that kinda force wasn’t necessary as far as I can see, and all I see are 20 babies who should have just took him in hand to hand, now a little girl is dead…
Uh-huh. Taken him in hand-to-hand. Sure thing, mall ninja.
German police (Landespolizei), here just call that basic hand to hand combat training. Not sure why someone needs to be a “ninja” to incapacitate someone with a bike chain.
That kind of weapon would be frowned down on in a U.S. court. Police aren’t aloud to beat people with lead pipes or chains. + Mall ninja is slang! Quit commenting about things you don’t understand. Go troll somewhere else. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
EXACTLY!!
He didn’t even take one second to see whether or not the offender was in possession of a firearm he just opened fire with his .223 caliber rifle without knowing what was beyond his target.
They carry tasers and pepper spray and also can respond with pepperball guns or beanbag guns, so why was no less than lethal method tried first?
The officer explicitly told his fellow officers to move back and stay behind him to let him “take point” with the rifle as if in some tactical military situation.
It seems this officer was gung ho and intent on using his rifle above all else, and it truly appears that such use of deadly force was not necessary especially since that suspect posed no immediate threat to his life as he was only armed with a short range melee weapon about 5 or so meters from the officer.
It doesn’t take a lot of thought or analysis to see what clearly happened on film and how the officer did not take literally even one second to gauge the situation before responding with lethal force.
They have less than lethal takedown tools and the training to not only use them but to ascertain the totality of the situation at hand which they are responding to.
I for one don’t want a police force that opens fire that quickly especially considering the manner in which use of lethal force is justified.
It would have been more than justified for the person being attacked to use lethal force against that assailant as they are in immediate danger of great bodily harm or death, but those officers clearly were not.
Law enforcement is not supposed to act as executioners, not saying that it was an execution but I can not see how that response could possibly be justified as reasonable use of lethal force.
Now that’s funny right there.
Hey Gregorio why don’t you stick to exterior residential painting and let the professionals do their job.
You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about and have no experience with firearms or hostile situations – Common especially based on how many free firearms you are trying to win.
Sheesh get a life loser!
ma
hey hot shot,maybe next time it will be you son or your daughter,or granddaughter,or grandson,what then???
Cops want to get home to their family. Only takes a second to get shot. It’s tragic an innocent life was lost. Only that cop knows what went on in his mind, we have no clue what he went through. He’ll have to answer for his actions on earth as well as in front of God. Cry out to Jesus Christ for salvation before it’s too late!!!
Gregory we are all very certain that you would have led the charge and taken this guy down without any trouble.