A Los Angeles Police Department officer will not face criminal charges in the 2021 fatal shooting of a 14-year-old girl killed inside a department store when police fired at a man suspected of attacking a woman, California prosecutors said Wednesday.
When police arrived and confronted the suspect with gunfire, an officer’s bullet pierced through the wall and fatally struck Valentina, who was pronounced dead on scene.
The California Department of Justice released a report Wednesday detailing the findings of its investigation into the shooting, which determined that no criminal charges will be filed against the officer who killed the teenager.
“We conclude that no criminal charges will be filed because the evidence is insufficient to prove that [the officer] committed a crime,” the California Department of Justice said in its investigative report.
A video shows Daniel Elena-Lopez, the suspect, entering department store with his bike and wearing a tank top and shorts.
An officer can be heard on the body camera footage firing three bullets toward the suspect, who later falls to the ground.
The officer had fired a Colt AR-15 patrol rifle, according to the justice department report.
A bullet aimed at the suspect passed through the wall, striking Valentina in the chest and killing her, coroner records show.
California prosecutors announced on Wednesday that a Los Angeles Police Department officer will not be charged criminally in connection with the 2021 shooting death of a 14-year-old girl who was shot dead by police inside a department store after they opened fire on a man they thought was assaulting a woman.
Following reports by police that a man had started attacking customers in the store on December 23, 2021, Valentina Orellana-Peralta and her mother were embracing and praying in the dressing room of the Burlington Coat Factory in North Hollywood, California.
Valentina was declared dead on the spot after an officer’s bullet pierced through the wall and struck her when police arrived and confronted the suspect with gunfire. Daniel Elena-Lopez, a 24-year-old suspect, was also shot and killed by police.
The teenager’s killer, an officer, will not face any criminal charges, according to a report released by the California Department of Justice on Wednesday. It summarized the investigation’s findings regarding the shooting accident.
In its investigative report, the California Department of Justice stated, “We conclude that no criminal charges will be filed because the evidence is insufficient to prove that [the officer] committed a crime.”.
The report states that after reviewing the case, law enforcement expert Greg Meyer came to the conclusion that the officer, or any other officer, did not have enough time to attempt de-escalation tactics in this particular situation. The story stated that Meyer said Valentina’s deadly shooting “was a tragic but unforeseeable accident.”.
For comments, CNN has contacted the LAPD and the lawyer for Valentina’s family.
According to a statement from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, “this case was a particularly challenging one to process as this involved the loss of two lives.”. “Any death is tragic, and my thoughts and prayers are with the family of Valentina Orellana Peralta, who passed away tragically and whose only connection to this incident was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”. “.
The sequence of events during the shooting.
Several reports of a possible shooting and suspected assault inside Burlington Coat Factory prompted police to respond at the time of the incident in December 2021.
Police have made available edited videos from police body cameras and surveillance cameras that depict the events leading up to the teen’s murder.
Witnesses have captured suspect Daniel Elena-Lopez riding into a department store while sporting shorts and a tank top. He then rides the upstairs escalator while carrying his bike.
He then makes his way back to the escalators and swings his bike lock at patrons, according to what the police reported at the time. He is dressed in a multicolored jacket and long pants. Furthermore, he is seen assaulting multiple clients.
A woman covered in blood is seen on multiple body camera videos made public by police, showing the suspect—who was only a short distance away—being sought after by the responding officers.
According to the newly released California Department of Justice report, Elena-Lopez was at the end of an aisle, about 12 feet away from the bleeding woman, and he was holding a “dark object” in his hand when the officer entered the aisle.
The body camera footage shows the suspect falling to the ground after the officer fires three shots at him. The justice department report states that the officer discharged a Colt AR-15 patrol rifle.
Valentina was fatally shot in the chest by a bullet that was intended for the suspect and went through the wall, according to coroner’s records.
The report stated that the bullet entered the wall of a fitting room after striking the floor and changing direction.
Time and circumstances “did not allow for planning and assessment of such factors as the potential for an unseen innocent person being in the background, rifle bullet penetration capability, or assessment of the physical structure of the walls behind the suspect,” according to law enforcement expert Meyer’s conclusion in the report.
The report from the Department of Justice stated that “the evidence does not show, beyond a reasonable doubt, that [the officer] acted without the intent to defend himself and others from what he reasonably believed to be imminent death or serious bodily injury.”.
