LAPD Chief confirms officer’s bullet killed Trader Joe’s employee
Melyda Corado, a Trader Joe’s assistant manager who died during a shootout Saturday, was killed by an officer’s bullet, Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said.
“I am truly sorry,” Moore said at a news conference Tuesday. “It is unimaginable, the pain of the Corado family. We share the pain today.”
Before Saturday’s shootout at Trader Joe’s, Atkins allegedly shot and wounded his grandmother, who remains hospitalized, and 17-year-old girlfriend.
He then allegedly led police on a chase, ending at the store.
Atkins, 28, was booked on suspicion of murder stemming from the Saturday death of the store manager who was shot as Atkins ran into the store while engaging in a shootout with pursuing Los Angeles police. The slaying is attributed him even though he did not fire the fatal bullet because he is held to have caused the entire situation. Atkins was being held in lieu of $9 million bail, Moore said.
“As chief of police, I am sorry for the loss, this tragic loss, not just to the Corado family, to her father, brother, (but) to her friends, to her work colleagues at Trader Joe’s,” Moore said. “This has been a devastating ordeal. On behalf of myself, and the men and women of this department, I want to express my deepest condolences and sympathy to her family and to everyone who knew her.
“I know that it is every officer’s worst nightmare, to harm an innocent bystander during a violent engagement,” Moore said. “I spoke to both of these officers this morning. They are devastated. They were devastated in the immediate aftermath of this event — that a person died in their efforts to stop Atkins. This is a heartbreaking reminder of the split-second decisions that officers must make every day. And it is also a sobering reminder of the destruction a lone individual with a handgun can create.”
The Trader Joe’s store remained closed Monday, while a memorial of signs and flowers in memory of Corado continued to grow outside the building. A GoFundMe page set up to help cover her funeral expenses had raised nearly $25,000 as of midday Monday.
Along with the murder charge stemming from Corado’s killing, Atkins was charged with trying to kill his grandmother and the 17-year-old girl — the latter of whom was rescued by Los Angeles police officers from the passenger seat of the Camry outside Trader Joe’s. The teen, described by police as Atkins’ girlfriend, was shot once in the head and was listed in fair condition.
Atkins was also charged with four counts each of attempted murder of a peace officer and assault on a peace officer with a semiautomatic firearm, along with 13 counts of false imprisonment of a hostage.
The other counts against him include fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s motor vehicle while driving recklessly, grand theft of an automobile, driving or taking a vehicle without consent, discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and assault with a firearm.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gustavo Sztraicher ordered Atkins to be held in lieu of $18.7 million bail pending his arraignment, which was postponed to Aug. 14 in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
He could face a life prison sentence if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The Trader Joe’s store has been closed since the shooting, but a memorial of signs and flowers in memory of Corado continued to grow outside the building. A GoFundMe page set up to help cover her funeral expenses had raised more than $33,000 as of early Tuesday afternoon.
