LA Police Commission Says Officer Who Shot and Killed Teenage Girl Last Year Violated Department Policy

The Los Angeles Police Commission has determined that an LAPD officer violated policy when he shot and killed a 14-year-old girl in a Burlington store in North Hollywood last December.

The Backstory

Body cam video from Dec. 23, 2021 shows LAPD officer William Dorsey Jones Jr. rushing ahead of other officers and firing three shots at Daniel Elena-Lopez, who had assaulted a woman in the store. Before Jones shoots, other officers are heard telling him to “slow down.”

The first shot struck and killed Elena-Lopez. But one bullet went through a wall and killed Valentina Orellana-Peralta while she was in a dressing room with her mother.

LAPD Chief Michel Moore wrote in a report to the commission that he believes all three shots violated department policy. 

On a 3-2 vote, the commission found the first shot, which struck and killed Elena-Lopez, did not violate policy. The vote was 4-1 in finding the other two shots did violate policy.

Orellana-Peralta’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and Jones last summer.

The commission also criticized many of the other officers at the scene for bad tactics.

What's Next

Moore can now decide whether to discipline or fire Jones.

Go deeper:

• ‘She Died In My Arms’: Family Of 14-Year-Old Killed By LAPD Shares Account Of Her Death And Demands Transparency

• LAPD Officials’ Remarks Raise Questions About Tactics Of Officer Who Killed Valentina Orellana Peralta