Bodycam footage of a fatal police shooting of a 23-year-old woman armed with a knife in Panorama City on June 15 shows there was confusion among the officers over deploying a Taser or using a gun.
After the deadly shooting, one officer on the video is heard asking, “It was just a Taser, right?”
“No,” says another officer, “She’s got a gunshot wound. Yeah, I didn’t know that either.”
The footage was part of the Los Angeles Police Department’s critical incident report, which shows that shortly after midnight, officers from the Mission Division responded to an apartment complex in the 9400 block of Van Nuys Boulevard, where a woman reportedly armed with a knife was threatening family members.
A woman could be heard in a 911 clip telling a dispatcher that her sister, later identified as Joanna Lua, was “on drugs” and holding a knife.
“She held it (the knife) in front of me right now,” the sister told the dispatcher. “I had to lock myself in the room.”
In a radio call to police, the dispatcher described Lua as a “violent female with mental illness”, who also was drunk. Los Angeles Police Capt. Kelly Muniz said in the report that Lua was also believed to be under the influence of methamphetamine.
Warning: The following video contains disturbing footage
When officers arrived, they stood outside the front door and told Lua to “open the door” and let them in. That continued for several minutes as additional officers arrived. Lua could be heard speaking in the background but her speech was incoherent and difficult to understand.
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The woman’s 35-year-old sister, who asked to remain anonymous, said in an interview with a reporter that she was living in the apartment with her mother and Lua’s 8-year-old daughter. She had feared for her safety and locked herself in a room when she called 911, while her mother and niece were asleep in another room. They were awakened by the sounds of a gun and Taser firing.
As police tried to figure out a way inside the house, one officer asked his partner, “Hey, should we switch this to a Taser?” to which the officer, later identified by LAPD as Mission Area Police Officer Mackey Hurtado, responded, “Yeah, (unintelligible) Taser.”
The police department said Hurtado was the officer who later fired the fatal shot at Lua.
On the video, a banging sound could be heard inside the apartment, which officers believed was Lua trying to gain access to one of the family members locked behind a door. Hurtado yells, “If you don’t come out with your hands up we’re going to kick down the door.” Then he does.
An excerpt of bodycam footage from Hurtado’s partner shows Lua approaching officers from a few feet away inside the living room with her arm raised holding the knife a few seconds before the Taser and gunshot are fired.
The video shows as the door opens, police yell, “Put the knife down” and “Drop the knife” several times before a simultaneous gunshot and Taser are fired. One officer can be heard yelling, “I said drop the knife” as the loud crackle of the Taser rings in the background.
Lua is seen crouching over a couch face down near the door groaning in pain, as a 10-inch bread knife lies on the floor next to her.
“I thought it was a Taser,” says one officer, who tells police to get back before asking, “Is she hit?”
It’s at that point that another officer asks, “It was just a Taser right?” as Lua remains crouched over a couch. “No,” says another officer, “She’s got a gunshot wound. Yeah, I didn’t know that either.”
The bodycam footage ends with Lua lying on her side as officers try to place her in a recovery position. She was later hospitalized, where she died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
Lua’s sister blamed police for the death.
“They shouldn’t have shot and Tased her at the same time,” she said.
“I know my sister had her battles. I just don’t think anyone deserves to go that way, she still had dreams and goals. I made that call because I didn’t feel safe. It was never my intention for them to kill my sister.”
Lua’s sister described her as a loving mother who always cared for the well-being of her 8-year-old daughter, even as she struggled with mental health issues and addiction. The 23-year-old dreamt of having her own home and wanted to go back to school and have a career.
Police officials, asked why Hurtado fired his gun, declined to respond.
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.