Eight Los Angeles police officers who unloaded a hail of more than 100 bullets on two unsuspecting women delivering newspapers last year violated department policy, Chief Charlie Beck and the Los Angeles Police Commission have found.
The officers fired on the blue pickup truck in February 2013 as the search for cop killer and ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner heated up — and had police on high alert.
The officers, though, who thought the truck matched the description of one Dorner, 33, was known to be driving, violated the LAPD’s use of force policy by shooting at the innocent women, the Los Angeles Times reported.
PROVIDED BY BOB CHAMBERLIN/LOS ANGELES TIMES
The Los Angeles Police Commission confirmed findings that police violated the department’s use of force policy in shooting at the pickup truck.
Emma Hernandez, 71, and Margie Carranza, 47, were shot around 5 a.m. while delivering newspapers that day. Officers were posted outside an LAPD captain’s house in Torrance because the officer had fired Dorner, the vengeful killer, from the force.
Dorner had posted online about killing those who had wronged him as part of a vendetta against law enforcement.
HANDOUT/REUTERS
Christopher Dorner (pictured) was the suspect in a nerve-racking manhunt that set Los Angeles on edge. Dorner was fired from the force and threatened to take venegeance on those that wronged him. He killed himself during a final standoff in the forest.
Officers unleashed a barrage of bullets, hitting Hernandez twice in the back and grazing Carranza.
The truck was blue, unlike Dorner’s, which was gray. It was a different make and model, too.
NICK UT/AP
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck presented his findings that eight cops violated department policy when they fatally fired on a truck carrying innocent bystanders.
The women were victims of “a tragic misinterpretation” by cops feeling an “incredible tension,”Beck told the Times after the shooting.
The women later settled with the city for $4.2 million.
PATRICK FALLON/REUTERS
More than 100 bullets were fired at the truck, which turned out not even to be the same color or model as Christopher Dorner’s.
The involved officers have been on desk duty since the shooting.
Beck met Tuesday with the Police Commission, which unanimously accepted his determination. Beck will now decide how he punishes the officers, if at all, the Times reported.
The officers fired on the blue pickup truck in February 2013 as the search for cop killer and ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner heated up — and had police on high alert.
The officers, though, who thought the truck matched the description of one Dorner, 33, was known to be driving, violated the LAPD’s use of force policy by shooting at the innocent women, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The Los Angeles Police Commission confirmed findings that police violated the department’s use of force policy in shooting at the pickup truck.
Emma Hernandez, 71, and Margie Carranza, 47, were shot around 5 a.m. while delivering newspapers that day. Officers were posted outside an LAPD captain’s house in Torrance because the officer had fired Dorner, the vengeful killer, from the force.
Dorner had posted online about killing those who had wronged him as part of a vendetta against law enforcement.
Christopher Dorner (pictured) was the suspect in a nerve-racking manhunt that set Los Angeles on edge. Dorner was fired from the force and threatened to take venegeance on those that wronged him. He killed himself during a final standoff in the forest.
Officers unleashed a barrage of bullets, hitting Hernandez twice in the back and grazing Carranza.
The truck was blue, unlike Dorner’s, which was gray. It was a different make and model, too.
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck presented his findings that eight cops violated department policy when they fatally fired on a truck carrying innocent bystanders.
The women were victims of “a tragic misinterpretation” by cops feeling an “incredible tension,”Beck told the Times after the shooting.
The women later settled with the city for $4.2 million.
More than 100 bullets were fired at the truck, which turned out not even to be the same color or model as Christopher Dorner’s.
The involved officers have been on desk duty since the shooting.
Beck met Tuesday with the Police Commission, which unanimously accepted his determination. Beck will now decide how he punishes the officers, if at all, the Times reported.
