Source of Fatal Shot May Never Be Known

Investigators probably will not be able to determine which of four unnamed officers fired the shot that killed a 19-month-old toddler during a shootout last week in Watts, Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton told a civilian panel Tuesday.

“We don’t think we will ever be able to determine” who killed the child, Bratton said.

The girl, Suzie Marie Pena, was shot through the head as Los Angeles SWAT officers battled her gun-wielding father, who was holding her hostage, Bratton said. The father, Jose Raul Pena, also died from police gunfire.

Pena had barricaded himself and his daughter inside the office of his car dealership July 10, shooting multiple rounds at police and at random during a 2 1/2 -hour standoff.

SWAT officers, believing Pena was wounded, had stormed the building to rescue the child, police have said.

But Pena surprised them by ducking into an interior office with the child and shooting at them through the wall. After one officer fell wounded, the others made it inside the close quarters of the interior office and exchanged a final volley of bullets with Pena until he fell.

It was most likely during this last gun battle, Bratton said, that an officer accidentally shot the child.

Police Inspector General Andre Birotte, in an interview, said investigators have determined the toddler was in her father’s arms during the final confrontation, although they do not know whether she was dead or alive.

It will be difficult to match the fatal round to any one of the officers’ guns, Birotte said, because the bullet passed through Suzie’s body and might never be recovered, or it could have been mangled on impact.

There may not be a distinct trajectory for the fatal shot because the officers were firing in close proximity, using the same ammunition, Bratton said.

“The wounds she received were caused by a rifle round,” Bratton told the Police Commission. “At least four of the officers ... were carrying that [type of] weapon. It is unlikely that we will be able to determine which officer actually fired the round to take her life.”

Bratton spoke before an open session of the Los Angeles Police Commission, the civilian panel charged with overseeing his department.

Bratton’s comments were not a surprise. Last week, the chief had warned that, unless the bullet that killed Suzie was lodged inside her body, it would be difficult to match it to a particular weapon.

LAPD, breaking with past practice, has not released the names of any of the officers involved in the shootout, except the one briefly hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

Outgoing Police Commissioner Rick Caruso said he was glad the shooter was not likely to be named. “I don’t see what benefit that would be to the community or officers,” he said. “I was hoping we weren’t even going to try. No good can come of it.”

Luis Carrillo, attorney for the toddler’s family, declined to comment on the chief’s announcement, saying he had not reviewed materials related to this part of the investigation.

Bratton promised the panel a “very comprehensive” investigation into the shooting and a close examination of the tactics involved.

He said the LAPD’s internal investigation was likely to take months and involve accounts from as many as 75 witnesses. “It’s like putting a big jigsaw puzzle together.”