LOS ANGELES, Calif. (CSU) — Authorities say they fatally shot a 14-year-old girl inside a clothes store dressing room on Thursday while firing at a suspect who had previously abused a woman.
According to Police, the male suspect was also murdered by Police. The woman who had been assaulted had moderate to serious injuries and was brought to the hospital.
Around 11:45 a.m., bullets were fired at a Burlington store in the North Hollywood neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley, which is part of a chain formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory.
Officers first responded to complaints of a person being assaulted with a deadly weapon and bullets being fired, according to Los Angeles police Capt. Stacy Spell. According to Spell, officers opened fire after witnessing the perpetrator assaulting another person.
According to Spell, the guy was killed after being struck by the cops’ shots.
According to LAPD Assistant Chief Dominic Choi, one of the shots passed through a dressing room wall and injured the 14-year-old girl. She was later discovered inside by officers.
At a second press conference, Choi added, “You can’t see into the dressing rooms, and it simply appears like a straight wall of drywall.” Investigators aren’t sure if the boy was in the changing room before the fighting started or if he fled in to hide, he added.
Attorney General Rob Bonta said the shooting was being investigated by the California Department of Justice. According to Choi, authorities don’t know the man’s motive or whether he knew the woman he assaulted in the store.
The woman was rushed to the hospital with moderate to serious injuries, according to Nicholas Prange of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Choi claimed she was shot in the head, limbs, and face, but it was unclear whether she had been shot.
A large metal cable lock was discovered near the suspect, which Police believe was used in the assault.
The victim in the first assault report, according to Spell, was the injured woman. It wasn’t immediately clear what kind of weapon was used in the attack.
He also said that prior to the incident, authorities had received complaints regarding the suspect acting strangely.
Imelda Garcia said her sister worked at the company and was on her lunch break when she heard gunfire, and everyone fled. Garcia said she spoke with her sister on the phone, and she was well, but she sounded “extremely scared.”
Nearly two hours after the shooting, Police led everyone out of the store.
The shooting was similar to an event on July 21, 2018, when LAPD police shot and killed a woman at a Trader Joe’s grocery store by mistake. Officers got into a gunfight with a guy who shot his grandmother and girlfriend before leading Police on a chase that stopped when he crashed his car outside the market, according to authorities.
Melyda Corado, the assistant store manager, was shot and killed by a police officer as she rushed toward the store’s entrance after hearing of the automobile crash.
Gene Evin Atkins, the suspect, held employees and shoppers hostage for three hours before surrendering, according to investigators.
Atkins has entered a not guilty plea to the murder.
Prosecutors found that when two police officers returned Atkins’ shot, they did so in a legal manner.
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