The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has released bodycam video showing its officers opening fire on Jillian Shriner, the author and wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, in the city on April 8.
Police allege Shriner fired toward them with a handgun while they were searching for three suspects involved in an alleged hit-and-run, before she was shot in the shoulder. Shriner was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and later released after posting a $1 million bond.
Newsweek contacted the LAPD and Jillian Shriner’s agent for comment on Saturday via email and online inquiry form respectively outside of regular office hours.
A screengrab from a video released by the LAPD shows Jillian Shriner armed with a pistol before she was shot. A screengrab from a video released by the LAPD shows Jillian Shriner armed with a pistol before she was shot. LAPD
What New Footage Shows
The case has attracted significant attention both because of Shriner’s high profile and because she was at home when the shooting took place, and was not one of the suspects being sought by police.
According to data from Campaign Zero, a group that campaigns against police violence, in 2024 1,365 people were killed by law enforcement officers in the United States. In May 2020 the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sparked massive protests and some disorder across the country.
What To Know
In the bodycam footage LAPD officers can be seen searching for three people who were allegedly involved in a hit-and-run on the 134 Freeway in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles.
During the search police came across Shriner, wearing a Weezer T-shirt, who was armed with a handgun in her garden.
In the footage from behind a wooden fence officers repeatedly call on Shriner to drop her weapon with one shouting “put the gun down” while another said: “Ma’am we’re trying to help you.”
Later an officer says “you’re going to get shot, it’s the police” before urging Shiner to “drop the gun.”
Shriner doesn’t obey these commands and according to one of the officers raised her pistol up.
Scott and Jillian Shriner are pictured at the 2015 Moth Ball at Capitale in New York City on May 12, 2015. Scott and Jillian Shriner are pictured at the 2015 Moth Ball at Capitale in New York City on May 12, 2015. Jenny Anderson/GETTY
He said: “Hey, she just pointed it. Not at us, but she just lifted it up.”
Another officer commented: “Oh, she racked it!”
At this point multiple gunshots can be heard after which one officer says “shots fired, officer needs help.” It is unclear from the video who fired the first shot.
According to police Shriner was hit in the shoulder and then retreated inside her property. She later surrendered to officers and was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. She was transported to hospital with moderate injuries.
The LAPD also released a 911 call between Shriner and an operator during which she comments: “I had my gun, and he said, ‘put down that gun, put down that gun.’ I said put down your f****** gun. And then he shot me.”
Police recovered a 9mm handgun from Shriner’s property. One of the three people officers were originally searching for over the hit and run was later arrested but the other two have yet to be caught.
What People Are Saying
LAPD public information officer Jennifer Forkish said: “The LAPD conducts very thorough use of force investigations which typically require investigators to interview multiple witnesses, view numerous hours of video footage and analyze a significant amount of forensic evidence. We are still at the very early stages of this investigation which can often take up to a year to complete.”
What Happens Next
Shriner is next due to appear in court on April 30. According to an LAPD spokesperson the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office has yet to present a case against her.
