Fremont, Calif., police fatally shot a pregnant 16-year-old girl who was a passenger in a stolen vehicle linked to a series of robberies, authorities say.
The girl, identified as Elena Mondragon by family members, was in her first trimester of pregnancy, according to Sgt. Ryan Cantrell, spokesman for the Hayward (Calif.) Police Department, which is investigating the shooting, the Los Angeles Times reports.
A GoFundMe page set up for Elena by her uncle Miguel Minjares says that Elena was “a young loved little daughter, sister, cousin, niece & friend to all.” The page says “Ebbie” was “a witty fun loving girl” who “was coldly shot by the Fremont Police Department & killed as a passenger in a car stopped” by the police.
According to the Times, Hayward police said in a statement that the shooting occurred at 5:20 p.m. Tuesday near California State University, East Bay, in Hayward, about 12 miles north of Fremont, while Fremont police detectives were investigating a rash of robberies in the Bay Area.
The detectives had traveled to Hayward, and while there, they located a stolen vehicle believed to be connected to the robberies. When they attempted to stop the vehicle at an apartment complex, the driver rammed their police vehicle, resulting in two Fremont detectives being injured.
Hayward police say that’s when the detectives opened fire on the vehicle and struck one of three passengers inside. The car sped away from the apartment complex but crashed a short distance away, and when detectives got to the vehicle, they found the wounded teen inside.
According to the Times, two other occupants of the vehicle were taken into custody near the scene of the crash, and the fourth occupant, who ran from the vehicle, was arrested Wednesday night in San Francisco. None of the other occupants of the vehicle have been identified.
The shooting is being investigated by the Hayward Police Department and the Alameda County (Calif.) District Attorney’s Office.
Read more at the Los Angeles Times.