2.08.2013

Police mistakenly shoot two women in ex-cop manhunt



Craziness in Southern California, as authorities search for the ex-cop who has said he is out to kill LAPD personnel, and is responsible for the murder of three people in the last week. Understandably, police officers are on edge... but that doesn't mean you should start sucking at your job at putting others at risk.

Case in point. Two elderly Asian women were shot by police in Torrance yesterday when officers mistook their blue pickup truck for the vehicle reportedly being driven by the suspect: Women delivering newspapers in Torrance shot in manhunt for ex-cop.

The women were just out early delivering newspapers. The next you know, the cops were shooting at them:

The women, shot in the 19500 block of Redbeam Avenue, were taken to area hospitals, Torrance police Lt. Devin Chase said. They were not identified. One was shot in the hand and the other in the back, according to Jesse Escochea, who captured video of the victims being treated.

It was not immediately known what newspapers the women were delivering. After the shooting, the blue pickup was riddled with bullet holes and what appeared to be newspapers lay in the street alongside.

Local, state and federal authorities are involved in a massive search for Christoper Jordan Dorner, 33, a former Los Angeles Police Department officer who is believed to have threatened "unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" against police in an online manifesto, and was suspected of shooting three police officers, one of whom died, early Thursday in Riverside County.

Dorner also is suspected of killing a couple in Orange County earlier this week.
Christopher Dorner is described as 33-year-old, 6-foot-tall, 270-pound African American man. The victims in this shooting incident... are not. Just a guess, but I'm pretty sure these women do not match Dorner's description. But somebody got jumpy and decided to unload their guns on a newspaper delivery truck. This is a tense situation, so how about trying to make sure that nobody else gets hurt? More here Two Elderly Asian Women Shot By LA Police Looking For Ex-Cop Fugitive.

UPDATE: Further reports say the two victims were Latina, not Asian. Doesn't make the shooting any less disturbing. Still guessing, but I'm pretty sure neither of them resemble Dorner either. More here: Dorner manhunt: Police fired at carriers without warning, lawyer says.

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