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Los Angeles ordered to pay $9.5 million for woman’s death in 2018 gunman shooting

LOS ANGELES — The city of Los Angeles will pay $9.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by relatives of a woman who was fatally shot by Los Angeles police during a shootout with a gunman at a Trader Joe’s store six years ago, the family’s attorneys said Friday.

The father and brother of 27-year-old Melyda Corado filed a lawsuit in November 2018, alleging civil rights violations and wrongful death.

Corado was an assistant manager at the store in the Silver Lake neighborhood on July 21, 2018, when a gunman, who was being pursued by police, got into a gunfight as he ran inside. Corado was caught in the crossfire, police said.

Investigators said the gunman shot his grandmother and kidnapped his girlfriend. He took dozens of people hostage in the store but later surrendered.

According to Neil Gehlawat, attorney for Corado’s family, her death could have been prevented if the officers had followed their training.

“Officers must consider the dangers posed to bystanders when using deadly force, and the officers here failed to do so,” Gehlawat said in a statement.

The Public Prosecution Service did not immediately respond on Friday to an email seeking comment on the settlement.

The Los Angeles Police Commission determined that the officer who fired the fatal shot did not violate police policy. A report said officers acted reasonably because they believed the shooter posed an imminent threat of injury or death.