LAPD officer supports police shooting of Jillian Lauren; commission is exceeded

For the second time in recent months, a citizen commission that oversees the LAPD has exonerated Officer Jim McDonnell in a police shooting, concluding that officers were at fault when they shot and killed Jillian Lauren, the author and wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner.

McDonnell wrote in a report made public Thursday that two officers were justified in using force to kill Lauren, 52, who pointed a gun at police during an argument in her backyard in Eagle Rock last April.

But the Police Commission took the rare step of going against McDonnell’s recommendation, finding fault in the shooting and concluding that the police had made serious tactical errors.

Although this five-member panel is the one who decides whether police shootings are wrong or illegal, the king has the final say on police conduct. Such decisions are rarely made public because of police secrecy laws.

The incident began at approximately 5:20 pm on April 8, 2025, when police responded to a request for assistance from the California Highway Patrol to track down three suspects wanted in a car accident. Officers Joshua Wolak and Dorian Zhou joined the search, along with several others from the nearby Northeast station.

Body-worn camera footage released by the department showed Wolak, Zhou and a CHP officer standing against a wall near the fence that separates a neighbor’s home from Lauren’s property. The LAPD video shows Lauren, wearing a purple Weezer T-shirt and black tights, walking through the yard with a black gun, looking around as if on alert.

Police say the officers yelled at Lauren to drop her gun for several minutes, before he fired in their direction. Wolak then fired seven rounds, and Zhou fired five at a distance of 50 meters.

Lauren was not connected to the shooting, authorities said. A 911 call from Lauren’s neighbor revealed that Lauren believed she was being shot by armed suspects, who were seen running through the neighborhood.

After the shooting, Lauren returned to her home, where she stayed for about an hour until a police officer called her assistant, who was also inside. He was later taken to a local hospital with a gunshot wound to the left arm, police said.

During interviews with internal investigators, Zhou said he saw Lauren raise the gun at a 45-degree angle, “set” the slide to go around and shoot the police. In response, he said, he fired five rounds, aimed at his center.

He replied that he stopped shooting “because I couldn’t see him anymore.”

The commission voted unanimously to rule on the police’s decision to depart from the policy. Officials generally do not publicly discuss the reasoning behind reaching certain decisions.

Both the commission and the chief were critical of the decisions of the command of Sgt. Albert Hoang at the scene, noting his failure to ensure that the officers involved were interviewed and the fact that he did not inform higher-ups about the shooting until three hours after it happened.

The civilian panel also differed from McDonnell in its assessment of the tactical errors made by Hoang and the two officers. In his report, McDonnell found that different tactics used by the CHP and LAPD contributed to the confusion in what was already a bad situation.

McDonnell wrote that he wants to create agreements to ensure that in the event of a similar incident, “another agency should be directed to withdraw from the tactical component of the incident or, if possible, be placed in a role that minimizes tactical coordination.”

In a 4-1 vote, the commission also ruled that the officers’ decision to draw their weapons was inconsistent with LAPD policy — a rare occurrence.

Lauren was first arrested on a charge of attempted murder of a police officer, which carries a long prison term, and was later charged with assault and battery. In December, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge granted him diversion due to mental health issues, sparing him the time he would have spent in prison.

The best-selling author of “All You Ever Wanted,” filed for divorce from her husband in December in Los Angeles County Superior Court. In her petition, she cited “irreconcilable differences” but did not list an official date for the separation. The two married in November 2005 and have two teenage sons.

Before the altercation with the police, Lauren was recovering from cancer treatment and a hysterectomy in March.

Times staff writer Alexandra Del Rosario contributed to this report.