Tragically, a 17-year-old girl lost her life over the weekend at a station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department after stealing a deputy’s firearm. The events unfolded as the juvenile approached the City of Industry station’s main entrance at approximately 7:40 p.m. When deputies responded to her knock, she leaped at them and lunged for the deputy’s gun, and managed to take control of it, as reported by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The girl was making a racket inside the station, pounding on glass and creating noise. After wrestling away the deputy’s handgun, within seconds, the tragedy occurred.
The police have not released any footage of what happened or clarified whether the girl shot herself on purpose or by mistake. As stated in the news release, a confrontation arose, and during the struggle, the juvenile suffered from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
A family quarrel in the area may have been the cause of the occurrence. The youngster’s foster mom reported her to the authorities at 7:25 p.m. on Sunday, citing a mental health crisis that the girl was experiencing. When the sheriff’s officers arrived, the girl had already run away. Her foster father remained behind for the police to arrive; her foster mother set out to locate her.
A press statement states that the girl was reported to have arrived at the 150 N. Hudson Ave. location of the City of Industry sheriff’s office around fifteen minutes after that. She created a racket by banging on the glass and making unarmed noise at the front door.
As soon as the deputy casually opened the door, she stole his gun.
According to surveillance footage inside the foyer, the fight lasted seconds. The only video available is the poor footage from the lobby cameras, as the deputy was not wearing his body-worn camera throughout the incident. The deputy beat her to regain control, but she eventually pulled the trigger.
