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7h ago

Wrongful-Death Trial Opens in LAPD Shooting of 14-Year-Old in Burlington Dressing Room

The lawsuit challenges LAPD training after officials split on whether the officer’s three shots were justified.

FILE - Police officers work near a broken glass door at the scene where two people were struck by gunfire in a shooting at a Burlington store, Dec. 23, 2021, in North Hollywood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)
FILE - Juan Pablo Orellana Larenas, father of Valentina Orellana Peralta, speaks during a news conference outside the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters, Dec. 28, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)
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Overview

  • The civil trial began Wednesday in Burbank over the 2021 LAPD shooting that killed 14-year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta inside a Burlington store dressing room.
  • Her parents accuse the city of wrongful death, negligence, and emotional distress, and the complaint says her mother felt her daughter go limp in her arms after a bullet pierced the thin wall.
  • Officer William Dorsey Jones Jr. fired three rifle rounds at a man attacking shoppers with a bike lock, and one round traveled through the dressing room wall and struck the teen.
  • Internal reviews diverged: the Los Angeles Police Commission found the first shot justified and the next two out of policy, while then–Chief Michel Moore said all three shots were unjustified.
  • Jones told the department he believed there was an active shooter, mistook the bike lock for a gun, and thought the wall behind the suspect was exterior brick, as the city’s trial strategy remains unclear and the court prepares to probe LAPD training protocols.