LAPD officers trained in ‘background awareness’ a month before the Burlington shooting – Orange County Register

Los Angeles Police Department officials were asked to read a November 2021 training bulletin asking them to consider their surroundings when opening fire on dangerous or fugitive suspects, to minimize risk of hitting innocent bystanders, officials said Tuesday.

It was about a month before an LAPD officer armed with a rifle shot an assault suspect who was whipping a person with a bicycle lock inside a Burlington store in North Hollywood. When he fired, The police officer accidentally killed 14-year-old Valentina Orellana Peralta, who was hiding on the other side of the wall in the dressing room with her mother.

“In situations where officers have the time and resources to choose from among different weapons and ammunition systems, officers should consider the potential issues of over-transmission and hazards posed by pistols and rifle bullets, shotgun slugs and shotgun shells,” the bulletin read.

LAPD officials after the shooting, which also killed the assault suspect, Daniel Elena Lopez, 24, said the officer fired three times and that at least one bullet had come out of the ground. They think that round then penetrated the wall behind Lopez, attacking Peralta at her hideout.

Whether the officer, William Dorsey Jones, has enough time to consider the other options at his disposal before firing the rifle will depend on the department’s decision to issue discipline.

Those facts will also play some role in any final decision made by the California Attorney General’s office, which is reviewing the shooting and potentially criminal charges.

Several LAPD heads discussed the shooting and its investigation at Tuesday’s Police Commission meeting, the first since Orellana Peralta’s death.

The meeting also came the day after the girl’s funeral in Gardena, attracting local civil rights leaders and activists with her family.

The committee is also looking into the shooting, and members at the meeting said they could not comment on the incident before making a decision. But the committee questioned what tactics the group of officers involved, including Jones, would have known about before the December 23 incident.

Body-worn camera footage from the shooting shows a small group of officers armed with handguns, shotguns and at least one less-lethal foam baton launcher as they ride the escalator up the door’s second floor shop that day after the LAPD received multiple 9-1-1 calls about Lopez assaulting people there.

A supervisor of those officers spoke to a store employee shortly before the shooting occurred; That officer told officers Lopez was equipped with bicycle locks.

When officers scanned the second floor for Lopez, Jones arrived with a rifle. He pushed in front of the officers as they moved forward after seeing an injured woman on the ground.

Jones, already at the head of the group, quickly moved toward the woman when other officers told him to slow down. He turned a corner into an aisle and spotted Lopez at the other end. Saying nothing, he pointed the gun at Lopez and opened fire. Lopez bent down, then fell to the ground and died.

Seconds later, officers heard Orellana Peralta’s mother screaming in the locker room just behind where Lopez had been standing.

Deputy Superintendent March Reina, who commands the LAPD’s training department, told the committee Tuesday that the officers were armed with rifles like the one Jones had as part of the department’s rifle cadre. The Personnel Committee has about 1,000 officers.

This particular team was formed after LAPD officers found themselves underpowered during a North Hollywood gunfight in 1997 when they faced two bank robbers armed with high-powered rifles.

Reina said members of this force are trained to switch between their rifles and secondary weapons as their situation responds to changes. He said the basics of the training included a “transition maneuver” – officers walking to a target about 30 feet away while pointing their rifles. As they got closer, they were taught to switch to the smaller but more compact pistol.

Reina said rifle officers are taught that smaller, more enclosed areas are not suitable for rifles.

“You can get around malls and stores,” he said.

Reina said she’s trained for more than 20 years to react quickly in ongoing shooting situations, to kill suspects before they can do more damage.

However, he said officers are also required to check their surroundings to minimize the risk of self-harm.

“On arrival, officers should get as much information as possible,” Reina said. “They should listen to determine if they heard gunshots, to determine what is happening.

“Any information an officer receives should be checked where possible,” he continued. “They should slow down if there is no indication that an active shooting situation is occurring.”

Officers can be heard in body-worn camera footage telling Jones to slow down. One can also hear that Lopez is standing near the store’s changing room.

Reina said the LAPD’s standard of “reverence for life” – meaning they should try to refrain from killing anyone if possible – and that de-escalating violent encounters did not change even during the events. shooting situations are active.

An attorney for Jones told Southern California News Group that The officer believes he is responding to an active shooting situation.

Questions remain about what Jones should know before firing his rifle.

At least one caller told 9-1-1 dispatcher she heard gunshots. But another call from a store employee correctly indicated that Lopez only had bike locks. And before Jones got there, another officer on the ground told the first officers there that Lopez was only equipped with a bicycle lock.

The November newsletter on basic awareness is part of ongoing training LAPD officers receive on how to respond to incidents of violence including active shooters.

According to the bulletin, officers “who have the time and resources to choose from among different weapons and ammunition systems” should try to consider other options before opening fire.

Even when they are firing live ammunition, “officers should be aware that all projectiles can pose a threat to unintended persons and property if accuracy is compromised, as projectiles may go too far from their intended goal. Even if the projectiles hit the intended target, the bullets can escape from the target and keep moving forward until all kinetic energy is consumed. “

However, the bulletin notes that regardless of what is happening at any given incident, “none of these considerations… take away the right to protect their own life or the life of others.”

Reina said Tuesday that officers were scheduled to be retrained to respond to active shooters later this month. The last time most officers in the LAPD received active shooting training was about two to three years ago, he said, after the department updated the training to incorporate new tactics and lessons learned from veterans. recent incident.

Officers killed at least two others in situations like the recent Burlington shooting: In 2018, officers tried to subdue a homeless man armed with a bread knife. took a woman hostage at a Van Nuys . church shoot dead both the man and the hostage. A few weeks later, officers chased a murder suspect into Silver Lake Trader Joe exchanged guns with the man, hit store employee Mely Corado and kill her.

Activists calling for a virtual committee meeting on Tuesday said Jones should not open fire and use assault rifles inside a store where shoppers may lack awareness.

“It was not an accident, sir. It wasn’t an accident – his officers told him to slow down and he didn’t,” said Minerva Garcia, an LA resident who also said she attended Orellana Peralta’s funeral. a day before.

“Use a military-grade rifle to shoot into a crowded store during the busiest time of year, the day before Christmas… to have your child in your hands being meaninglessly killed and mindless, how will you feel? It’s personal, it’s personal when your child is killed like that.”