Officer Whose Bullet Killed a 14-Year-Old Girl Wanted to ‘Change’ the Police

LOS ANGELES — When helium archetypal moved to Los Angeles 15 years ago, William Dorsey Jones Jr. was similar galore others earlier him, hoping to find a vocation successful the amusement industry. He went truthful acold arsenic to commencement his ain company, Entourage Entertainment Group.

But erstwhile those dreams didn’t cookware out, Mr. Jones became a assemblage relations specializer and patrol serviceman successful the North Hollywood country — and helium loved it. On societal media, helium seemed to person a consciousness of obligation, arsenic a Black constabulary officer, to face head-on the issues of racism and policing.

He ran a nonprofit that mentored at-risk younker and helped manager a precocious schoolhouse shot team. Earlier this month, helium drove a car filled with presents to manus retired to children.

But connected the time earlier Christmas Eve, Mr. Jones became the latest look of an all-too-familiar communicative of American policing: a rapid-fire tactical cognition successful a store, crowded astatine 1 constituent with vacation shoppers, that near 2 unarmed civilians dead.

After responding to calls astir a antheral attacking customers astatine a North Hollywood covering store with a dense motorcycle lock, it was Mr. Jones, his lawyer confirmed connected Thursday, who changeable and killed the man, Daniel Elena Lopez, 24. One of the bullets the 42-year-old serviceman fired skipped disconnected the level and done a wall, sidesplitting 14-year-old Valentina Orellana Peralta, who had been hiding successful a dressing country with her mother.

“This is idiosyncratic who, 4 days ago, everybody successful our state would beryllium wanting to hire,” Tom Saggau, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles constabulary union, said of Mr. Jones, whose aboriginal with the section present depends connected the result of astatine slightest 2 investigations, arsenic good arsenic what lawyers representing Ms. Orellana Peralta’s parents said would beryllium a probable lawsuit.

Officers arrived astatine the Burlington covering store and rushed successful with weapons drawn; a store worker had alerted a dispatcher to customers being attacked with a motorcycle lock, but different 911 callers reported that the assailant had a weapon and had fired shots, the constabulary said.

In body camera footage released this week, Mr. Jones could beryllium seen racing past his chap officers with a drawn rifle, adjacent arsenic his colleagues called retired to him to “slow down” and “hold up.”

“Let maine instrumentality constituent with the rifle,” helium said.

Only seconds aft the officers encountered a pistillate with a bloodied caput who had been scrambling to get distant from Mr. Elena Lopez, Mr. Jones opened fire, the footage showed. Mr. Elena Lopez fell to the crushed arsenic an anguished wail emanated from the dressing country wherever Ms. Orellana Peralta and her parent were hiding.

Mr. Jones, who was connected paid administrative permission and declined to sermon the episode, has a disposable “heaviness connected him,” his lawyer, Leslie Wilcox, said successful an interview. She said helium had ne'er earlier been disciplined for a constabulary shooting, and was amazed by the level of nationalist choler directed astatine him, “as if Valentina’s decease was intentional, oregon reckless connected his part, which it was neither.”

Earlier this week, Mr. Jones’s individuality and badge fig began to circulate connected societal media. At a quality league connected Tuesday wherever Ms. Orellana Peralta’s household spoke, an attendee held a motion showing Mr. Jones’s in-uniform portrait. Above the photograph it read: “WANTED.”

Mr. Jones scrubbed his integer footprint, shutting down the Twitter accounts helium ran for his nonprofit, his enactment arsenic a manager and his constabulary work. In his tweets, recovered done integer archives, helium sometimes described racism that helium had experienced and his hopes of improving the enactment of the Police Department and its relations with the community.

“I’m a Black man, I’m the begetter of a Black son,” helium wrote connected Twitter connected Aug. 27, saying that helium had himself been a unfortunate of “racism.”

“I’m the LAPD. I person the powerfulness & determination to impact CHANGE successful the community,” helium wrote.

In 2019, helium spoke with a section quality station astir his attack to instrumentality enforcement.

“There’s nary amended transgression simplification strategy than to prosecute with our youth, for them not to beryllium frightened of us, to fto them cognize determination are radical retired determination who care,” Mr. Jones said.

In a illustration of Mr. Jones connected the website of the University of Louisville, wherever helium had attended assemblage aft increasing up successful Kentucky, Mr. Jones said he’d had a humble upbringing. His mother, Toya J. Brazley, worked aggregate jobs to assistance rise her 3 sons. His father, the elder William D. Jones, worked successful insurance.

In 2006, Mr. Jones dropped retired of assemblage and moved to Los Angeles, a metropolis 8 times the size of his hometown. Initially, according to the profile, helium had hoped to interruption into the amusement industry. But helium discovered a caller calling successful 2009, erstwhile helium joined the Los Angeles Police Department. He liked it, arsenic his lawyer said, due to the fact that of his beardown tendency to assistance others.

Mr. Jones yet married, had a lad and, successful 2015, purchased a location successful Santa Clarita, a municipality successful the foothills northbound of Los Angeles wherever middle-class families often spell to find a portion of suburbia.

In 2020, Mr. Jones finished the credits helium needed for his communications grade from Louisville. That aforesaid year, helium and his woman started their nonprofit, Officers for Change, which distributed donations of backpacks and schoolhouse supplies from chap officers, according to the constabulary union.

Mr. Jones besides started an at-home concern called Use of Force Fitness, nationalist records show.

He recovered clip to service arsenic an adjunct shot manager for the Valencia High School Vikings, joining the programme wrong the past mates of years arsenic a wide receiver coach. The squad celebrated winning a large determination rubric successful November.

She said that Mr. Jones had been a mentor and a relation exemplary for the shot program. “He made a nonstop interaction connected the full squad immediately.”

Ms. Devoll said that precocious schoolhouse shot tin beryllium a high-pressure situation for teen boys. Coaches tin beryllium pugnacious and angry. But Mr. Jones, she said, was unfailingly affirmative and “really built them up arsenic people.”

That was thing Mason Turek, an 18-year-old elder connected the team, said helium experienced firsthand. He said helium talked with Mr. Jones astir what to prosecute aft precocious schoolhouse — and told him that helium had been reasoning astir becoming a constabulary officer. Mr. Jones, helium recalled, listened and told him astir however galore of his colleagues connected the unit had interests and careers extracurricular of instrumentality enforcement, arsenic well.

Still, Mr. Jones did not speech overmuch astir his occupation erstwhile helium was astatine signifier oregon games, Mr. Turek said — though helium sensed it mightiness person weighed connected him astatine times.

“As a Black constabulary officer, with everything going connected — I person tremendous respect for him,” Mr. Turek said.

The lawsuit is acceptable to beryllium an early, intimately watched trial of 2 of California’s astir important constabulary accountability reforms successful caller years.

In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into instrumentality 1 of the nation’s toughest standards for the usage of deadly unit by constabulary officers, requiring that officers usage it lone “when indispensable successful defence of quality life.”

The law, which besides requires the authorities to measure whether an serviceman took steps to de-escalate a concern oregon usage little lethal weapons, was inspired by the decease of Stephon Clark, who was changeable by Sacramento constabulary officers who mistook a cellphone helium was holding for a gun.

The 2nd change, which went into effect successful July, requires that the California Department of Justice independently analyse — and determine whether to prosecute transgression charges — successful incidents successful which officers sprout and termination unarmed people.

California’s lawyer general, Rob Bonta, said the probe into the deaths of Mr. Elena Lopez and Ms. Orellana Peralta was inactive successful its aboriginal stages. He said his bureau would look astatine the question of transgression liability for the officers progressive “with the aforesaid nonsubjective eyes that we bash each our different cases.”

Philip M. Stinson, a prof of transgression justness astatine Bowling Green State University who studies constabulary violence, said that, fixed the chaos that awaited officers arriving astatine the Burlington store, “this is going to beryllium a hard lawsuit for investigators and prosecutors successful making the determination astir whether the serviceman was justified successful utilizing deadly force.”

Earlier this week, Ms. Orellana Peralta’s parents described their daughter arsenic a bright, saccharine miss who hoped to go an technologist and an American citizen. They spoke astatine a quality conference extracurricular the office of the Los Angeles Police Department, flanked by their lawyers, led by the high-profile civilian rights lawyer Ben Crump.

Mr. Crump connected Thursday said it appeared wide that Ms. Orellana Peralta’s decease should person been prevented.

“We deliberation that they person grooming for these nonstop situations and dynamics,” helium said. “Literally, you’re going into a nationalist installation — however bash you usage the slightest intrusive measurement to guarantee that guiltless radical aren’t harmed?”

But Ms. Wilcox, the officer’s lawyer, said the constabulary officers who responded had been trained successful however to face specified situations, and Mr. Jones had been attempting to prevention lives.

“I don’t deliberation immoderate serviceman tin ever ideate that specified a tragic result would travel from them pursuing their grooming and procedure,” she said.

Kitty Bennett contributed research.