14-year-old girl killed by LAPD identified

The Los Angeles County medical examiner-coroner has identified the 14-year-old girl who was killed by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) inside a department store dressing room. 

According to the coroner’s office, Valentina Orellana-Peralta died Thursday afternoon when police opened fire on a suspect on the second floor of a Burlington Coat Factory in North Hollywood. 

Authorities fatally shot the suspect but one of the bullets went through drywall behind the suspect and hit Orellana-Peralta, who was in the store’s dressing room with her mother, according to USA Today. 

An LAPD source told The Los Angeles Times that Orellana-Peralta was in the store trying on dresses for a quinceañera.

LAPD Capt. Stacy Spell said authorities were responding to a report of someone being assaulted with a deadly weapon and shots fired. 

Witnesses told CBS affiliate KCAL that the unidentified suspect began acting erratically in the department store, threatening to throw items from the upper floor and attacking a woman with a bicycle lock.

The woman who was assaulted by the suspect was transported to a nearby medical facility to be treated for injuries to her head, face and arm. 

It’s unclear whether she was shot in the incident, officials said, USA Today reported.

In a statement, State Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said California’s Department of Justice will investigate the incident and turn over its findings to the special prosecutions division for independent review. 

“This chaotic incident resulting in the death of an innocent child is tragic and devastating for everyone involved,” LAPD police chief Michel Moore said 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,” Moore said.

Moore added that the department plans to release footage from the store’s closed-circuit security system and officers’ body cams, radio calls and other information by Monday, the LA Times noted.