An assistant store manager at a Trader Joe's who was killed during a standoff in Silver Lake with an armed gunman was struck by a bullet fired by police, the Los Angeles Police Department announced at a press conference Tuesday morning.
The incident began when when the suspect, identified as Gene Atkins, became involved in an argument with his grandmother at their home in the 1600 block of East 32nd Street in South Los Angeles. Atkins allegedly shot the woman several times, before he forced his girlfriend into his grandmother's Toyota Camry and took off from the scene.
Police were able to track Atkins thanks to an anti-vehicle theft device installed on the car, eventually catching up with him in Hollywood a few hours later. That's when Atkins fled police, at one point shooting out his back window as he fired on the pursuing officers out of the Camry. Eventually, Atkins crashed into a street lamp in front of the Trader Joe's, where he ran into the store continuing to exchange gunfire with police.
It was during the running gun battle that 27-year-old Melyda Corado was shot and killed by the officers returning fire on Atkins.
"As chief of police, I am sorry for the loss, this tragic loss, not just to the Corado family, to her father, brother, (but) to her friends, to her work colleagues at Trader Joe's," Moore said. "This has been a devastating ordeal. On behalf of myself, and the men and women of this department, I want to express my deepest condolences and sympathy to her family and to everyone who knew her.
"I know that it is every officer's worst nightmare, to harm an innocent bystander during a violent engagement,” said Moore. "I spoke to both of these officers this morning. They are devastated. They were devastated in the immediate aftermath of this event - that a person died in their efforts to stop Atkins. This is a heartbreaking reminder of the split-second decisions that officers must make every day. And it is also a sobering reminder of the destruction a lone individual with a handgun can create."
Moore said the two officers fired eight rounds at Atkins, and that the fatal bullet that struck Corado hit her arm, and then traveled into her body.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover the cost of her funeral and has raised more than $32,000 as of Tuesday morning.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office said Tuesday that they had charged Atkins with a total of 31 counts including: One count each of murder; kidnapping; fleeing a pursuing peace officer's motor vehicle while driving recklessly; grand theft of an automobile; driving or taking a vehicle without consent; discharge of a firearm with gross negligence; shooting at an occupied motor vehicle; and assault with a firearm.
He was also charged with two counts of attempted, willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder, four counts of attempted murder of a peace officer; four counts of assault on a peace officer with a semiautomatic firearm; and 13 counts of false imprisonment of a hostage. The DA's office says an additional complaint also included allegations of gun use and causing great bodily injury and death.
Atkins was also charged with the murder of Melyda Maricela Corado, stemming from Corado's death on Saturday. While he did not fire the fatal bullet, he is being held responsible for having created the entire situation.
During the press conference Tuesday morning, Moore apologized to Corado's family saying that it was every officer's worst nightmare to injure an innocent bystander during a violent confrontation.
Photo: Getty Images