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California police release bodycam footage of teen store shooting

AFP

Bodycam footage of the “chaotic” police shooting of a teenager in a  California department store was released Monday, as critics claimed officers were all-too-ready to open fire.

Fourteen-year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta was in a changing room when a stray bullet fired by a policeman came through the wall and hit her, killing her instantly.

Valentina was shopping in a Los Angeles store with her mother in the pre-Christmas rush, buying clothes for her “quinceanera”, the coming-of-age ceremony celebrated by Latin Americans.

Police say they were called to the Burlington Coat Factory in North Hollywood on Thursday because of reports of a possible shooting.

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CCTV Images from the scene show a clearly agitated man roaming the store with a bike lock in his hand before police arrive.

He lashes out at several people before repeatedly beating one woman about the head and body with the heavy-duty cable lock.

Police bodycam footage shows a number of officers arriving at the scene with guns drawn.

Seconds after they locate the suspect, one of them opens fire with a long barrelled gun.

He falls to the floor and is handcuffed.

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A police commentary shows a freeze-frame that it says shows one of the rounds the officer fired skipping off the floor and hitting the outside wall of the changing room where Valentina was hiding with her mother.

Police Chief Michel Moore said he had ordered a full investigation of the incident.

“This chaotic incident resulting in the death of an innocent child is tragic and devastating for everyone involved,” he said.

“I am profoundly sorry for the loss of this young girl’s life and I know there are no words that can relieve the unimaginable pain for the family.”

Hispanic civil rights group LULAC said responding officers had acted recklessly.

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“It is indefensible that trained Los Angeles police officers could open fire in a crowded store at the height of Christmas shopping without first knowing for sure if the suspect was armed,” said president Domingo Garcia. 

The shooting is the latest in a country where law enforcement readily resorts to deadly force when confronting criminal suspects.

There is no official national record of fatal shootings by US police officers, and reporting of incidents by police departments is voluntary.

A tally by the Washington Post published Monday shows more than 900 people have been shot and killed by police in the last year.

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International

Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “reach a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, while also reaffirming his willingness to impose sanctions on Russia.

“I want to see him reach an agreement to prevent Russian, Ukrainian, and other people from dying,” Trump stated during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.

“I think he will. I don’t want to have to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil,” the Republican leader added, recalling that he had already taken similar measures against Venezuela by sanctioning buyers of the South American country’s crude oil.

Trump also reiterated his frustration over Ukraine’s resistance to an agreement that would allow the United States to exploit natural resources in the country—a condition he set in negotiations to end the war.

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International

Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links

A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.

Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.

However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.

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International

Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”

Guatemalan court decides Wednesday whether to convict journalist José Rubén Zamora

The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.

“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.

The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.

His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”

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