An investigation is currently underway following a deadly police shooting at a strip mall in Gardena, authorities reported. The incident occurred early Tuesday morning, around 1:40 a.m., at the intersection of Rosecrans and Van Ness avenues. According to KTLA, a white Kia Soul with multiple bullet holes was cordoned off behind yellow caution tape at the scene. Next to the vehicle lay the body of one individual, possibly a female. Details on what initiated the officers to discharge their firearms, or if the deceased was armed, have not been released.
Simultaneously, another account by NBC Los Angeles mentions the occurrence of a short police chase involving a woman in a white car. The pursuit ended in the strip mall parking lot, though the reasons for the chase and the ensuing shooting were not immediately clear. It was confirmed by a spokesperson from the Los Angeles County Fire Department that one person was transported to the hospital. The identity of this individual remains uncertain.
Further details provided by a FOX LA report cited a witness named John, who claimed to have heard around six shots fired after witnessing the end of a police chase when the driver entered the strip mall parking lot. "They crashed her car and boxed her in. 15 to 20 minutes later, they broke the window and two to three minutes after that they shot her," John told FOX LA. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is assisting the Gardena Police Department with the ongoing investigation, but the circumstances leading up to the shooting remain unclear.
