Los Angeles to pay $9.5M in settlement over 2018 death of woman during police shootout with gunman

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The city of Los Angeles will pay $9.5 million to settle a lawsuit by relatives of a woman fatally shot by LA 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 sued 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 chased by police, got into a shootout as he ran inside. Police said Corado was caught in the crossfire.

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

Neil Gehlawat, an attorney for Corado’s family, said her death was preventable if the officers had followed their training.

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

The City Attorney’s Office didn’t immediately respond Friday to an email seeking comment on the settlement.

The Los Angeles Police Commission determined the officer who fired the fatal shot didn’t violate police department policy. A report said officers acted reasonably because they believed the gunman presented an immediate threat of injury or death.