Homicide detectives in Los Angeles County are investigating after a teenage girl in the throes of a mental health crisis walked into a sheriff’s station, grabbed a deputy’s gun and fatally shot herself, authorities said.
The incident happened Sunday night. Police did not identify the teen or give her age, but the Los Angeles Times reported that she was 17.
“A female walked into the Industry Sheriff Station lobby at approximately 7:40 p.m.,” the station said in the first of three statements Sunday. “There was an altercation and a critical incident occurred. This was not a Deputy Involved Shooting incident.”
Elaborating further in subsequent missives, the sheriff’s department said that a girl had shown up at the sheriff’s station in City of Industry, Calif., at about 7:40 p.m., knocking on the door. When deputies went to answer it, she lunged into the lobby and grabbed the gun of one of them.
“A struggle ensued between the deputies and juvenile who was armed with the deputy’s firearm,” the sheriff’s office said. “During the struggle, the juvenile suffered from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
At about the same time, deputies were arriving at the girl’s foster home responding to a call of a teen having a mental health crisis. They had been summoned at 7:25 p.m. by the girl’s foster parents, but the teen was gone when they got there. She reportedly showed up at the sheriff’s station about a mile away 15 minutes later.
It was over in seconds, department sources told the Los Angeles Times, also saying that it appeared the girl had intentionally shot herself and that her death was not caused by an accidental discharge.
They were not wearing body cameras at the time, but lobby security cameras recorded the incident. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident is being investigated.
With News Wire Services
