Cindy Gomez

Protest for Abigail Lopez

On Sunday, October 29th, an incident between Anaheim Police Department (APD) and a 20-year-old woman (Abigail Lopez) escalated, and the young woman was killed.

APD received a call saying a subject was armed with a rifle. When the officers showed up to the scene, located near the 1200 block of south Anaheim Boulevard at 9:00  AM, there appeared to be a young lady at the bus stop holding what looked like a rifle.

The officers repeatedly shouted, “Put it down. Put it down, or you’re gonna get shot,” before finally opening fire.

After being shot, Lopez fell back and laid down on the bench. Video footage shows officers still shouting, “Drop the gun now,” as Lopez appears to be motionless. Officers took her to the hospital where she was later pronounced dead. APD later investigated the weapon, and it was found to be a BB gun.

The public was outraged by this shooting. Days later, on Friday, November 3rd at 5:00 pm, there was a protest. There were groups of people on each corner of the streets holding posters, screaming, “Honk for Abby.”

A few hours later there was a police officer that drove by the scene. Protestors surrounded the police car screaming and throwing things at the car.  There was tagging all over the streets and all over the local establishments, like Burger King.

It seems that APD overreacted and could have done more to prevent this senseless death. The investigation is ongoing.