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Go to SanGabrielSun.com for San Gabriel Specific News M O N D AY, J A N U A RY 03- J A N U A RY 09, 2022
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‘Hamilton’ at Pantages Theatre canceled through Jan. 23 due to COVID surge
Parents of 14-year-old girl killed in LAPD shooting demand ‘full transparency’ during investigation BY CITY NEWS SERVICE
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he parents of a 14-year-old girl who was fatally struck by a stray bullet fired by Los Angeles police at an assault suspect inside a North Hollywood clothing store are calling for full transparency as various investigations into the shooting continue. In a tearful, emotional news conference outside LAPD headquarters last Tuesday, Valentina Orellana-Peralta’s parents described the horror of losing their daughter two days before Christmas. The girl was with her mother in a dressing room, trying on Christmas dresses, when she was struck by a police bullet that passed through a wall on the second floor of the Burlington store at 12121 Victory Blvd. The girl died in the arms of her mother, who said she and her daughter sat down and hugged when they heard the commotion in the store, and the force of the gunshot that struck Valentina threw them to the ground. “As I lay screaming for help, the police did not come to help me or my daughter, but I kept screaming,” Valentina’s mother, Soledad Peralta, said. “When the police finally came, they took me out of the dressing room and left my daughter laying there. I wanted them to help her, but they just left her laying there alone.” Attorney Rahul Ravipudi said the family’s lawyers sent a preservation of evidence letter to the LAPD “so that we actually can have transparency on
all of the evidence and all of the information, so that the LAPD doesn’t drive the narrative on what they did. We can expose that truth ourselves.” Ravipudi said the letter was sent immediately after the shooting “to make sure that all of that evidence is saved” and available to attorneys throughout the investigation. While police released body-worn camera footage of the shooting on Monday, attorney Ben Crump said Tuesday that attorneys believe there is also surveillance video from the Burlington store itself, which they are trying to access. Some surveillance video clips were released by the LAPD Monday. “We want all the documentation, complete transparency, not just a perspective that tries to justify things, we want everything released,” said Crump, a high-profile civil-rights attorney who has represented clients including the family of George Floyd, who died while being arrested by Minneapolis police, setting off national protests. Crump said attorneys are “going to address how things could have been done differently to prevent (Valentina) from being collateral damage.” “We should not have to sacrifice innocent life in the name of safety,” Crump said. At a separate news conference last Tuesday outside the Burlington store where OrellanaPeralta was killed, members of the California Chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens and several
other civil rights and activist groups decried the shooting as being reckless and said they would pursue a meeting with Mayor Eric Garcetti and LAPD Police Chief Michel Moore to discuss reforming LAPD’s use-of-deadlyforce training and policies. “We want to address this issue,” Jose Barrera, LULAC’s state director, said. “We’re seeing case after case where police officers are shooting first and asking questions later. We want to put an end to that tactic. We want to ensure that there’s a full report when it comes to this particular case ... to find justice for Valentina and for her family to find peace.” Valentina’s parents, speaking through translators Tuesday, said their daughter came to Los Angeles from Chile about six months ago and had dreams of becoming an engineer, an American citizen and going to see a Los Angeles Lakers game with her father. “She wanted to be here in the United States because this was the land of opportunity, and she was excited about that,” attorney Erica Contreras said, translating for Valentina’s father, Juan Pablo Orellana Larenas. “The only thing that he has left for him now is to seek justice for his daughter. He will not rest until justice for his daughter is served,” Contreras added. Valentina attended High Tech Los Angeles Charter School, where she had just passed her math and physics exams. Crump read a letter
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Valentina Orellana-Peralta. | Courtesy photo
sent to the family by the school’s principal, Colleen Molina, saying Valentina “was an amazing young woman who was brave and showed so much growth in such a short time here at HTLA.” A GoFundMe page was also established to benefit the teen’s family and has raised thousands of dollars so far. Los Angeles police last Monday released bodycamera footage and other details of the shooting, which occurred around 11:45 a.m. on Dec. 23 when officers responded to reports of a man assaulting people, and possibly firing shots, inside the Burlington store. The narrated video released by the LAPD
includes footage showing the assault suspect viciously attacking a woman on the second floor of the Burlington store, repeatedly beating her with a steel or metal cable bike lock, leaving her bloodied on the floor as officers arrived. Body-camera video captures the sound of police gunfire quickly ringing out as officers spot the suspect -- with the cable lock in his hand. More than a half-dozen officers descend on the suspect after the shots are heard, and the injured suspect is taken into custody, and
See LAPD shooting Page 6
he hit musical “Hamilton” is yet another victim of the surging coronavirus in Los Angeles County, with producers announcing Tuesday that all performances of the show at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre are canceled through Jan. 23. “As a result of rigorous health and safety testing protocols, the Los Angeles production of `Hamilton’ at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre has discovered COVID-19 breakthrough cases,” Broadway in Hollywood, which runs the Pantages, said in a statement. Performances are scheduled to resume Jan. 26, and all tickets for canceled shows will be refunded at the point of purchase, according to the statement. “With COVID-19 cases still rising in Los Angeles each day, the Omicron variant has yet to peak, and we expect many refunds and suppressed sales for the next several weeks,” show producer Jeffrey Seller said. “In consultation with our epidemiologist, we are proactively and immediately canceling performances through Jan. 23. We look forward to resuming performances at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre with a complete and healthy company in 2022.” Tickets for upcoming performances may be purchased at BroadwayInHollywood.com/HamiltonLA.