A 14-year-old girl was killed in a changing room by a stray bullet fired by a police officer responding to an assault on the store.
The tragedy took place on December 23 at a clothing store in North Hollywood, near Los Angeles, where police were called over an ongoing "armed robbery".
Upon arrival, the police found a bleeding woman "suffering from various injuries" not far from a suspect.
They opened fire on him, killing him on the spot.
"Unbeknownst to the police, a 14-year-old girl was in a dressing room on the other side of a wall directly behind the suspect."
It was not until after the shooting that officers discovered the teenager had been fatally shot.
"According to the first elements of the investigation, it seems that the victim was struck by one of the bullets fired by a police officer at the suspect," the statement said.
Valentina Orellana-Peralta, a young girl of Chilean origin, was shopping with her mother for her 15th birthday.
She died instantly.
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore lamented "a chaotic incident that resulted in the death of an innocent child" and apologized to the family.
He also pledged to shed full light "on the circumstances which led to this tragedy".
The images of the on-board camera, CCTV, emergency calls and radio exchanges were made public at his request.
The alleged assailant, a 24-year-old man already prosecuted for domestic violence, also died during the intervention.
According to local media reports, no firearms were found in his possession.
One of the main civil rights organizations for Hispanic Americans, Lulac, strongly criticized the conditions under which the police intervened on Monday.
"It is unacceptable that the Los Angeles police were able to open fire in a crowded store at the height of Christmas shopping without knowing for sure whether the suspect was armed," reacted the president of Lulac, Domingo Garcia.
