The Los Angeles Police Department has identified the victim of an officer-involved shooting that took place in Silver Lake on Feb. 22.
The victim’s identity is not listed on the County Medical Examiner’s website where such information is typically found.
Mariela Cardenas was identified as the victim.
LAPD also lists the three officers involved in the shooting: Miguel Salazar, Jacqueline McBride, and Preston Moseby, who are all assigned to Rampart Division.
Jacqueline McBride is the daughter of the department’s police union boss, Jamie McBride.
On February 22, 2023, around 7:55 p.m., Rampart Division uniformed patrol officers responded to a radio call of an “Assault with a Deadly Weapon Suspect There Now,” in the area of Silver Lake Boulevard and Temple Street. The initial comments of the call indicated that a female Hispanic wearing a trench coat pointed a “revolver” at a passerby. Officers responded to the area where they observed a female, later identified as Mariela Cardenas, matching the description of the radio call, armed with what appeared to be a firearm. The officers immediately exited their vehicle and gave verbal commands to Cardenas.
Cardenas ignored the officers’ commands and pointed the weapon in the officers’ direction, resulting in an OIS. Cardenas was struck by gunfire and taken into custody. The Los Angeles Fire Department personnel responded to the scene and transported Cardenas to a local hospital, where she was pronounced deceased. No officers were injured during this incident.
The LAPD has up to 45 days to release footage from the officers’ body cameras and other video sources, which could shed further light on the events leading up to the shooting.
McBride’s other daughter, Toni, was involved in a shooting that killed Daniel Hernandez, 38, in 2020.
Earlier this year, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office cleared McBride of wrongdoing in the incident. But the ruling was met with skepticism because it was based in part on the “expert opinion” of a police use-of-force consultant whose work has been criticized as illegitimate for years.
Los Angeles police department released the shooting details on their website on Feb. 25 but the local newspaper didn’t write about it until yesterday after writers at The Times were able to make contact with the elder McBride.
“Bottom line is no one wants to take a life, but if somebody points a gun at you, an officer has to respond to protect their lives,” said McBride.
Emile St. John is a freelance journalist for 2UrbanGirls.com and a contributing writer for the Los Angeles Wave newspaper.
