Los Angeles police fatally shot a 14-year-old girl who was inside the dressing room of a clothing store on Thursday as they opened fire on a suspect who had previously been with a woman, officials said. Had beaten up.
Officials said the police also killed the male suspect. He and the girl have not been named. The woman who assaulted was taken to the hospital with moderate to severe injuries.
The shots were fired at approximately 11:45 p.m. at a Burlington store – part of a chain formerly known as the Burlington Coat Factory – in the North Hollywood area of the San Fernando Valley.
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Los Angeles Police Capt. Stacy Spell said at a news conference that police initially responded to reports of a man being attacked with a deadly weapon, as well as to reports of shots fired. Spell said officers opened fire when they saw the suspect assault another person.
Spell said the suspect was shot and killed by officers’ bullets.
One of the bullets went through the dressing room wall and hit a 14-year-old girl, according to LAPD assistant chief Dominic Choi. The officers later found him inside.
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“You can’t look into the dressing room and it just looks like a straight wall of drywall,” Choi told a second news conference.
He said investigators are yet to know whether the teenager was in the dressing room before the violence started or went there to hide.
Choi said authorities are yet to know the man’s motive or know the woman he initially assaulted in the shop.
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Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Nicholas Pranz said the woman had moderate to severe injuries and was taken to hospital. It was not immediately known whether he was shot, but Choi said he suffered injuries to his head, arms and face.
Police found a heavy metal cable lock near the suspect, which they say may have been used in the attack.
Spell said the woman injured in the first report of the assault was the victim. It was not immediately clear what weapon was involved in that attack.
He said the police had received a call about the suspect’s wrongdoing before the incident.
Imelda Garcia said that her sister works in the shop and she was on leave when she heard gunshots and everyone started running. Garcia said she spoke to her sister on the phone and she was fine but seemed “really nervous”.
About two hours after the firing, the police pulled the people out of the shop.