Teen killed by LAPD called US ‘country of opportunity,' her father says
A 14-year-old girl who was killed by US police fire in a dressing room had called the United States the “safest country in the world,” her father says.
Valentina Orellana-Peralta was fatally shot by a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) on Dec. 23 in a Los Angeles department store.
Juan Pablo Orellana Larenas, Valentina's father, who is from Chile, asserted that her daughter was really interested in becoming “an American citizen.”
"I have no words to describe what I'm going through, especially during this holiday season," he said. "I cannot sleep ... All she wanted was to become a American citizen. I once told her, let's leave this country. 'No, papa,' she said. 'This is the safest country in the world, a country of opportunity.'"
"Now my daughter is dead at the hands of the state."
The 14-year-old was shot dead inside a changing room as police was trying to hunt down a suspect.
"Unbeknownst to the officers, a 14-year-old girl was in the changing room behind a wall, and was behind the suspect, out of the officers' view," said LAPD Captain of Media Relations Stacy Spell. "At this preliminary phase in the investigation, it is believed that the victim was struck by one of the rounds fired by an officer at the suspect."
The stray bullet fired by a policeman came through the wall and hit her, killing her instantly.
Bodycam footage later released by police shows the chaotic scene leading up to her death.
The suspect is initially seen roaming the store with a bike lock in his hand and lashing out at several people.
“It is like my whole heart has been ripped out of my body,” said Valentina’s father, who spoke in Spanish.
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