Los Angeles
A 19-month-old girl being used by her intoxicated father as a shield was killed this week in a shootout with Los Angeles police. The tragedy opened fresh accusations of excessive force against a police department that has been dogged by criticism since the televised beating of Rodney King sparked riots in 1991. Police Chief William Bratton said the toddler’s father, Raul Peña, left officers with no choice when he refused to release the child, then began wildly firing a 9mm pistol. But the child’s mother, Lorena Lopez, said her daughter, Susie Marie, would still be alive if police had let Peña’s relatives talk to him. “He needed to be helped,” Lopez said.
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