Girl grabs deputy’s gun, fatally shoots herself in lobby of L.A. County sheriff’s station, officials say
A 17-year-old girl died in the lobby of a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department station late Sunday after, officials say, she got hold of a deputy’s gun and shot herself.
The department has not released the girl’s name, and officials said late Sunday that it was unclear how she was able to take the deputy’s weapon.
The incident began around 7:25 p.m., when deputies got a 911 call about a family disturbance in the 300 block of Clintwood Avenue in La Puente, officials said. The girl’s foster family — who had phoned in the disturbance — told deputies the teen was having a mental health crisis, and raised concerns that she might harm herself, according to sources in the department.
But by the time deputies responded to the scene about a mile from the station, the girl had already left on foot. While her foster father stayed behind to meet the deputies, officials said, her foster mother went out to try to find her.
At that point, authorities said, it wasn’t clear where she was headed.
About 15 minutes later, the teen arrived at the City of Industry sheriff’s station at 150 N. Hudson Ave., according to a news release.
She was not armed, officials said, but she started knocking on the front door, causing a commotion as she made noise and banged on the glass. When a deputy casually opened the door, the girl “lunged into the lobby†and reached for the deputy’s holstered gun, according to officials and department sources.
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The two allegedly got into a struggle over the weapon, and department sources who were not authorized to speak on the record said that surveillance video inside the lobby shows the altercation lasting only a matter of seconds.
The deputy did not have his body-worn camera on at the time, the sources said, so the only video is the grainy footage from the lobby cameras. According to the sources, at one point the deputy punched the teen in an attempt to maintain control of the weapon — though ultimately she wrested it away and used it to kill herself, officials said.
A source who is reviewing the incident said the shooting appeared to have been intentional, not an accidental gun discharge.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the scene and pronounced her dead.
There were no other civilians in the lobby at the time, and officials said no deputies were injured in the incident. They have not released the name of the deputy involved.
Homicide detectives are still investigating. Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact detectives at (323) 890-5500 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.
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