‘She was targeted’: LAPD to open inquiry into Nine reporter shooting
The LAPD will be opening an investigation into the shooting of Nine reporter Lauren Tomasi with a sponge bullet during a protest yesterday. Tomasi told Mumbrella the Australian consulate had informed her the police would be conducting an inquiry into the shooting, which was caught on video.
Tomasi said she could walk freely and “did not want to be the story” after being hit in the lower leg while covering the LA immigration protests. The projectile was almost certainly a 40mm-diameter “sponge-baton” round, designed to deliver non-lethal force and fired from a special riot weapon. These bullets have a hard-plastic base and sponge tip.
“It was clear I was a member of the press, filming a report,” she said. “I had a mask for tear gas, and we were following police direction, standing off to the side.”
Lauren Tomasi shortly before she was shot
Nine CEO Matt Stanton welcomed the official police inquiry into Tomasi’s shooting.
“The video footage captured by our team on Sunday showing a projectile fired from a police officer’s weapon was shocking and raised concerns from around the world, with valid questions around what could in any way have justified the actions taken by the police officer,” Stanton said in a statement.
“This is why a formal investigation is so important. It is important to find out what happened and why. I plan to write to the LAPD Commissioner offering our cooperation with the investigation.”
Stanton thanked Australian officials — including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, ambassador Kevin Rudd and LA consul general Tanya Bennett — for following up on the incident with US authorities.
UK photographer Nick Stern, covering the protests from behind protest lines, was also hit by a 40mm sponge round. In Stern’s case, the bullet broke the skin and embedded itself in his upper thigh, requiring surgery. Reviewing the footage of Tomasi’s shooting from his hospital bed, Stern told Nine’s Today it was clear she had been targeted by the LAPD officer who shot her.
“ She was targeted by that officer, as she’s clearly standing there with a microphone in civilian clothes,” he said. “The cameraman is immediately in front, clearly visible, she was targeted and this really has to stop.”
LAPD guidelines on using “less-lethal” weapons in riot situations – which include the sponge rounds and “bean bag” shot fired from modified shotguns – instruct officers to fire at large muscle areas such as calves and thighs.
The guidelines also forbid the use of less-lethal weapons unless “an officer reasonably believes the suspect or subject is violently resisting arrest or poses an immediate threat of violence or physical harm.”
In the footage of Tomasi’s shooting, the LAPD officer turns away from the main police line to aim at Tomasi’s legs before firing.
Nine earlier this month announced that Tomasi would be its Washington correspondent, staffing a new bureau in the US federal capital.
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