Newly released video footage detailed the events leading up to the death of a 14-year-old girl who was inside a dressing room with her mother as police officers confronted and fired at an armed suspect.
The victim, identified as Valentina Orellana-Peralta, was struck by a stray bullet when law enforcement personnel shot at the suspect, identified to be 24-year-old Daniel Elena Lopez. The video compilation, which lasted for 35 minutes, provided new information regarding one of the city's latest high-profile cases of police shootings.
New Video Released
The incident has reignited the intense debate in Los Angeles over the role that police should play in keeping communities and members of the public safe. This year alone, data showed that Los Angeles Police Department officers have fatally shot 18 people, which is found to be more than twice the number of individuals who were shot and killed by the department last year.
Los Angeles police made it clear that it was one of their officer's stray bullets that accidentally struck the 14-year-old girl in the dressing room. The video said that it was believed that Orellana-Peralta was struck by a bullet that skipped off the floor and entered the dressing room wall. Police added that the suspect, Elena Lopez, did not have a gun in his possession despite initial reports, the New York Times reported.
The release of the video footage comes as the family of the victim has spoken out about the horrific incident. Orellana-Peralta's relatives said that the young girl loved skateboarding and had dreams of becoming an engineer and looked forward to building robots.
During a news conference on Tuesday, the mother of the victim, Soledad Peralta, said that she and her daughter were inside a dressing room shopping for Christmas clothes when they heard screaming, prompting them to lock the door. She said that they sat down on a seat and held each other while praying. Soon after, Orellana-Peralta was struck, throwing them both to the floor. The mother said that her daughter died in her arms while she was unable to do anything.
Family of the Victim
Outside the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters on Tuesday, the family of the victim stood next to a large photo of their beloved wreathed in flowers. They called for justice for the incident and said they wanted to remember their daughter, ABC News reported.
The father of the young girl, Juan Pablo Orellana Larenas, came from their native Chile to Los Angeles after the death of his daughter. He told reporters on Tuesday that Orellana-Peralta once told him that she believed the United States was "the safest country in the world."
The young girl came to the United States from her native Chile with her mother and sister about six months before the incident. While her father stayed in their home country, he planned to visit his family in the U.S. for the holidays. He said that he was planning on taking his daughter to see a Los Angeles Lakers game as she was a basketball fan, CNN reported.
