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Subscribe to RSSLAPD Capt. Phil Tingirides and LAPD Sgt. Emada Tingirides recalled fearful and anxious days under police protection, after their eight-member family was targeted by former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner.
Bullet holes in front doors, trees and a kitchen serve as reminders of the chaos brought to their Torrance, Calif. neighborhood during a frantic manhunt for an ex-police officer bent on revenge killings.
Nine bullets pierced a tree on Redbeam Avenue where two newspaper delivery women were shot by police officers who had mistaken them for fugitive Christopher Dorner.
Margie Carranza and her 71-year-old mother, Emma Hernandez, were delivering the Los Angeles Times before dawn near the home of a police officer named in Dorner’s angry manifesto.
The shooting occurred Feb. 7 after officers were notified of a truck that matched the description of Dorner’s gray 2005 Nissan Titan. Hernandez suffered two bullet wounds to the back. She was released from the intensive care unit and was recovering. Carranza, 47, had minor injuries related to shattered glass and a wounded finger.
The women’s lawyer counted 102 bullet holes in their blue Toyota Tacoma and several more in Hernandez’s hoodie.
Weeks later, memories of the shooting were still evident, with five bullet holes piercing a home’s front door and more in walls and garages that lined the street.
"My guess is that they threw policy out the window and got in trouble," said resident Steve McDonald, whose solar panels sustained bullet damage. "They're lucky they didn't hit each other because there were bullets flying every which way."
More news from NBCLosAngeles.com
NBC4 has learned that eight LAPD officers were involved in the shootout. All of them have been assigned to non-field assignments until "the [police] chief decides otherwise."
So far, their names have not been released and there has been no comment from the Los Angeles District Attorney about pressing charges.
An attorney for the women, Glen Jonas said he’ll let the investigation run its course.
"If the city wants to do it the easy way and get it resolved; if they want to do it for hard way, then we’ll file a lawsuit," he said.
Police said they cannot comment on on-going internal investigations.
But some residents, despite being so close to the gunfire, said they understand the officers’ actions.
"I think they have to be supported through this," said Joanne Arnn. "Yes, it's unfortunate, thank goodness no one here was fatally injured, but it's not a very safe world."
Arnn said that Torrance Police Department contacted each household on the block to learn if anyone was injuries and offered to pay for any damage to their homes.
About two blocks away and thirty minutes after the women were shot, a Redondo Beach man was fired upon by officers who also mistook him for the wanted Dorner.
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"They have to be supported in this. It's not a safe world"
omg, that's the stupidest thing I've ever read, and that's saying something.
Actually this supports my Gun Control argument. Gun Control is "Hitting Your Target"
They must have been really shook up, I figured over 114 rounds fired? A soldier doesn't fire that many rounds on the shooting range to learn to shoot. What the heck did they open up with, a SAWS? That's a impressive amout of bullits to fire off. From what? The Auto they carry on their Hips? Probably the only reason they stopped firing is from Trigger Finger Fatigue.
I don't have a problem with people having guns it Idiots with Guns that I have the issue with. Even if we didn't have the gun Hooppala going on I would be saying the same thing about this event. The Police should collect all the reward money and give it to the ladies. The city should but them a brand new fully loaded and warrented truck, pay for all medical cost, including Rehab, and hope that that will ease the BIG Law Suit that they are going to be hit with.
Welcome to the police state. Whatever happened to "Recognize and identify your target, then take action". Recently in Cleveland Ohio, 62 police cars pursued a car with two individuals inside, the chase started when an officer reported that he had been fired on. They ended up firing 137 rounds into the vehicle killing both individuals. No gun or shell casings were found in the car. The police union is defending the officers actions.
what do you expect there is no such thing as a good cop. cop"A" will never turn in cop "B"
Sounds like a great Toyota commercial, if it had been a Ford, Chevy or Dodge they would have been swiss cheese for sure!!!
Toyotas really are bullet proof!! Well kinda.....
The ladies were delivering news papers and the back of the truck was probably loaded with bundles of news papers thus stopping the bullets from going into the cab of the truck.
"I think they have to be supported through this," said Joanne Arnn. "Yes, it's unfortunate, thank goodness no one here was fatally injured, but it's not a very safe world."
So, according to Joanne it's okay for LA PIGS to go about shooting up neighborhoods because it's not a safe world. Well DUH!!!! Look what the PIG Dept did!!!!! People like Joanne are a problem, uncaring, uninvolved and unintelligent.
there is never an excuse for a police officer to discharge his or her weapon in such a reckless manner. If a civilian did this they would already be in jail. They were trying to kill innocent people for no reason other than their urge to kill. These officers need to be put ion jail. The rest of the police need to wake up YOU ARE NOT ABOVE THE LAW JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU ARE. America needs to wake up crooked cops are everywhere and no one polices the police.
Thank God these cops were such terrible, terrible shots. 200 rounds fire and to little gals still living. I'm glad they still alive, but these cops need more firing range practice.
they need their weapons taken away!! NO excuse for being this incompetent and dangerous
In this case, it's a good thing they couldn't shoot worth a crap.
It was shoot to kill.. They definitely didn't ever want him to tell his story..
That will be their excuse when it comes out after the investigation They(8 cops) were under tremendous stress and in a manhunt... Absolutely no excuse for this except stupidity for not confirming who was in the truck first! They had 8 people lookin down their sights yet no one of them recognized it was 2 ladies ! I will never step 1 foot into that city of death!
Hey cops, before you take aim at anything and fire you first have to have your head out of your AZZ.
The cops were afraid? Of the wrong people? More than policy needs to be changed here. Barney Fife and his brother need to be removed before they actually kill someone.
If you can't tell the difference between a grey Nissan and a blue Toyota and not to mention blasting 102 shots into an un-armored truck with out killing some one you have no business being a cop. Cowardly and pathetic, I hope these two victims get $100,000,000 apiece, and the cowardly cops lose their jobs and pensions. This is a result of a law in Cali. that states police are not liable for collateral damage. Shoot First Ask Questions Later
weve all been around long enough to know the diffrence between a NISSAN and a TOYOTA. Bright Blue vs Grey. Maybe the women made a mistake of leaving their lites off,
What happened to making sure before you fire your weapon? 102 shots that were able to be accounted for. That is over the top to me! Maybe they should have deployed DRONES
Some ask why 108 rounds.. Thats all they had
Large capacity magazines no doubt.
These Nazis should be prosecuted immediately!!!! cops are SETTING people up for total disaster DAILY NOW...They all need to be sued for millions and put in jail!!!!!! They are a shame and disgrace!!!
With police like LAPD we don't need any terrorist... the police do that job themselves.
Those cops should be in jail for attempted murder. They did not even attempt to identify who was in the truck or if it was the right truck. Gang members are more disaplined than that
102 shots fired and not one kill? Fire all of them for incompetence.
This is nothing short of attempted murder. Failure to identify and verify suspect before allout open fire, is intentional, and irrisponsible. Complete total disregard for any innocent bystanders, utter failure to serve or protect. Total attemp to kill with out any justification. For those that think we should support them, go ahead and do so, and maybe next time it will be you who are a "case of mistaken identity". There are laws that are supposed to protect people from this kind of outright attack from any would be shooter, even police. This just takes us to a new level of cops picking and chooseing who they will kill first then ask questions. If this is allowed to proceed without any charges for attempted murder, it simply throws law and order out the window, and we will have "gustopo cops" not law enforcement.
unfortunately there is no such thing as a good cop and the fact that charges have not been filed proves that
LAPD does need some serious gun control laws (for gestapo only tho').
Since when did the constitution get throwen away? INNOCENT till proven guilty why are cops allowed to become judge jury and fireing sguad? blue gray man women come on WE as law abiding citizens need to take a stand together and bring a STOP to the police brutality across this "OUR" country are we not the people who this government is made by and for then we need to do something!
there is no such thing as a good cop and they are totally out of control
Wow! The cops are totally out of control in L.A. The concept of protect and serve must only apply to them. You know we need the second amendment when you got a bunch of cops shooting up a misidentified vehicle, and then walking away as if nothing happened. Thank God none of the innocents in that pickup got shot. Trigger happy just isn't adequate to describe those cops.
All the officers involved in that unjustified shooting should be fired and prosecuted for stupid.
I know they were out to kill this guy, but if you have not identified your target, you are commiting attempted murder. All 8 of these cops should be in jail for attempted murder. They are just incredibly lucky they didn't kill these woman who did absolutely nothing wrong. But this mass shooting because their truck was blue is nowhere close to the requirements to dish out lethal force.
Just as bad as the NYC police who shoot into crowds, showing disdain for what or who might be down-range. Good that they are PP shooters!
where are all the liberal anti firearms idiots here who exclaim......only cops should have guns because they are trained. cops are humans, it depends on who they are and their training....just like civies.