Los Angeles police on Friday released video from the shooting of Jillian Lauren, an author and the wife of Weezer bass player Scott Shriner. The LAPD said Lauren pointed a gun and fired at officers this month after apparently mistaking them for armed suspects.
The police video, spliced together from officers’ body-worn cameras and surveillance footage, showed confusion in the moments leading up to the incident, which left Lauren, 51, hospitalized with a gunshot wound.
LAPD officers were assisting the California Highway Patrol in tracking down three suspects wanted in a hit-and-run when they encountered Lauren walking around in the backyard of her Eagle Rock home holding a gun.
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Video from the body-worn cameras of several responding officers was obstructed by a fence around Lauren’s yard; officers could be heard yelling at Lauren to drop her gun for several minutes. Another recording, from a nearby security camera apparently without sound, appeared to show Lauren chambering a round and raising the gun, followed by police bullets kicking up dirt near her feet a moment after.
Audio from a 911 call by one of Lauren’s neighbors indicated that Lauren believed she was being fired at by one of the suspects.
“There were three men, and one of them shot her, and the cops are looking for him right now,” the neighbor is heard telling a 911 operator. “They have their guns out.”
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Lauren was booked on suspicion of attempted murder of a peace officer and posted bail. It’s unclear whether the case has been turned over to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, which has the final say on filing criminal charges. A spokesperson for the district attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Lauren’s celebrity and the circumstances of the shooting have sparked debate about whether she was justified to defend her property.
The hit-and-run crash that kicked off the incident occurred near the 134 Freeway and Figueroa Street. Police soon began receiving 911 calls from neighbors who spotted the suspects trying to hide in backyards.
Security camera video shows the suspects walking by a pool at a home on Waldo Place and ducking out of sight behind a trampoline, before climbing up a hill.
The trio of officers in pursuit made their way to the backyard and climbed up a wall to a fence that separated the home from Lauren’s property. The LAPD video shows Lauren, wearing a purple Weezer T-shirt and black tights, walk around the yard with a black handgun, looking around as thought she were on high alert.
Officers on the other side of the fence can be heard yelling for her to drop her gun, although a helicopter hovering above may have prevented her from hearing them.
“Ma’am we’re trying to help you,” one says. “Drop the gun, you’re going to get shot.”
After several minutes of pleading, one of the officers tells the others that Lauren had raised her gun.
“Not at us, but she just lifted it up,” the officer is heard saying.
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Moments later, an officer is heard saying, “OK, she racked it,” followed almost immediately by the sound of at least six gunshots fired in quick succession.
After the shooting, Lauren is seen turning and walking back toward her home, before the video cuts out.
A neighbor called 911, apparently at Lauren’s request, to report that she had been shot at by three men who were standing on the other side of her fence.
“He was in my yard, so that’s where he shot her,” the caller said.
Lauren can be heard in the background of the call.
“I had my gun, and he said: Put down that gun, put down that gun. I said put down your f—ing gun,” she said. “Oh, and then he shot me.”
Lauren remained in her home for about an hour after the shooting, but eventually emerged to face LAPD officers waiting outside.
Video showed her lying prone on the street as an officer handcuffed her, noting that she had been shot in the arm. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Police said they recovered a Glock 9mm handgun and a spent shell casing from the scene.
Police said that one of the hit-and-run suspects was detained but released after questioning, pending charges.
Lauren is expected to appear in court at the end of the month.
A bestselling author, she gained recognition for her 2010 memoir, “Some Girls: My Life in a Harem,” describing her experiences in the harem of Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei. In 2023, Lauren published “Behold the Monster: Facing America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer,” based on her interviews with serial killer Samuel Little.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
