LAPD refuses to turn over report on 2018 Trader Joe's shooting that killed employee, attorney says
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The attorney for the family of a woman accidentally shot and killed by LAPD officers in 2018 says the city attorney's office is preventing him from seeing an internal LAPD report on the shooting.
Attorney John Taylor represents the family of Melyda "Mely" Corado, who was struck by rounds fired by LAPD Officer Sinlen Tse during a shootout at the Silver Lake Trader Joe's store in July 2018.
Prior to the shooting, Tse and his partner, Sarah Winans, were pursuing Gene Atkins, who had allegedly shot and wounded his grandmother. The chase went on for about 15 minutes and covered about nine miles, ending when Atkins' car hit a pole near the market.
That is when Tse and Winans exchanged fire with Atkins, accidentally striking Corado.
"The video has them roll right up on Gene Atkins' vehicle and get out of the car and start shooting with no regard for the background," said Taylor. "There are people on the sidewalk, there are people coming out of the Trader Joe's, there are people inside the store."
Corado's family is suing LAPD and the city of L.A. for negligence and civil rights violations, but Taylor says they've hit a wall when it comes to getting access to LAPD's internal Force Investigation Division report on the shooting. That report would reveal the officers' first explanations of why they opened fire in such a crowded area. However, Taylor says the city won't release it until after Atkins' trial is over.
"It makes no sense," Taylor said. "These documents, what would they jeopardize in the prosecution of Gene Atkins? He's in possession of all those documents."
A judge has agreed with LAPD's request to keep the report sealed until after the Atkins trial.
Eyewitness News reached out to LAPD, but the department says it does not comment on pending litigation.
The 2018 shootout just passed it's four-year anniversary on Thursday.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office released a report in December 2020 finding that Officers Tse and Winans were "justified in using deadly force in an attempt to stop" Atkins, but the L.A. City Attorney's office failed earlier this month to have the case dismissed.
"The one thing that is always the same is the lack of accountability," Mely Corado's brother Alberto told Eyewitness News. "No one wants to go after cops. We have a city government that basically exists at this point to make sure that cops never get held accountable."
Atkins meanwhile is facing more than 50 charges, including murder and attempted murder. He's slated to be back in court in September for a pretrial hearing.
Taylor, the Corado family attorney, doesn't expect the family's civil case to go before a jury until sometime next year.
