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NBC News – by Hetty Chang and Samantha Tata, NBCLosAngeles.com
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.”
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.
I remember hearing of cases where home invasion burglars dressed as cops to gain entry to peoples homes then tied them up and robbed them. Sometimes causing injuries. So, under this precedent, if a cop shows up at my door, can I shoot and then tell the judge later that I thought they were there to rob me? Clearly a case of mistaken identity your Honor.
We need the identities of these crooks. Say, isn’t that the case with Chris Dormer or any other “suspect”?
Equality is paramount so if anyone knows their names, please let us know…and photos too!
““They’re lucky they didn’t hit each other…”
If only they had, Los Angeles would be a little bit safer.
““I think they have to be supported through this,” said Joanne Arnn.”
Can you believe this? That idiot is talking about the COPS needing to be supported through this, and in that statement you’re looking at the biggest problem we face. The majority of Americans are just too stupid to comprehend what’s going on around them. They just riddled this bimbo’s neighborhood with bullets to cover up their criminality, and Ms. Einstein here thinks they need “support”. I really hope this idiot gets hit by a truck.
Another big percentage knows what’s going on, and can only throw up their hands in surrender and go back to the TV set (like the friend I was just talking to) to guzzle another beer.
It’s things like this that make me wonder if Kissinger was right….it seems like most of them ARE useless eaters, and trying to pry them out of their happy uselessness can be frustrating.
What the hell was LAPD doing in TORRANCE to begin with?
I’ll say it again: the LAST city in L.A. County that a wanted black man is going to try to hide out in, is TORRANCE!!! This BLATANT B.S. story makes NO sense to someone who knows this area as well as I do. As a matter of fact, I’m sitting in a Starbucks in TORRANCE right now as I’m writing this.
Granted, Torrance P.D are some of the worst a-holes around, after L.A. County Sheriffs and then LAPD, but they had to have had a different reason altogether for shooting up that neighborhood than the b.s. one they gave.
There’s something seriously wrong with this picture.
Something rotten in Denmark.
“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.””
Always gotta find some dumb down group of assholes who believe what the police did was justifiable. Just like that dumb down, black guy in Houston, when the military did their drill without telling anyone and he said, “Well, as long as they are doing it to protect our kids, then I guess it’s ok.”. Where do they find these people? And how much do they pay them to say the most stupid things on camera?
Joanne Arnn? Who is she?
A payed actress, to claim useless nonsence, for the network fabricators of news. That’s all she is and I would bet a hundred dollars that you will never ever see her in that community.
Most women react with terror at the sound of guns and will panic with fear at the sound of a single shot, especially if they live in the city.
Oh, I would also fire everyone of these officers for incompetence for two reasons.
1. shooting before thinking
2. unable to hit the target they are shooting at. Example: the person in the truck two bullets. The tree nine bullets.
“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.”
I’m sure they did. (sarcasm)
“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.”
Did they contact the households on that block as well, in order to make sure everyone was ok there, too? What a joke.