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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
National
Veronica Rocha

16-year-old girl who was fatally shot by Fremont, Calif., police was pregnant, authorities says

A 16-year-old girl who was fatally shot by Fremont, Calif., police during a robbery investigation was pregnant, authorities say.

The girl, who was a passenger in a stolen vehicle linked to a series of robberies, was in her first trimester of pregnancy, according to Sgt. Ryan Cantrell, a spokesman for the Hayward Police Department in the Bay Area, which is investigating the shooting.

Cantrell declined to release the girl's identity per department policy. However, the girl's family identified her as Elena Mondragon.

On a GoFundMe Web page created for the girl, her uncle, Miguel Minjares, described her as a "witty, fun-loving girl." He said the Antioch teen was "coldly shot" by police.

"Her family is feeling a pain that seems in this moment that will never go away," Minjares wrote.

The shooting occurred at 5:20 p.m. Tuesday near Cal State East Bay in Hayward, about 12 miles north of Fremont, according to Hayward police.

Fremont police detectives were investigating a rash of robberies in the Bay Area and had traveled to Hayward, where they located a stolen vehicle believed to have been connected to the robberies, a police statement said.

When the detectives tried to stop the vehicle at an apartment complex, the driver instead rammed their police vehicle, according to Hayward police. Two Fremont detectives were injured.

That's when the detectives fired at the car, striking one of three passengers inside, police said.

The car then sped away from the apartment complex but crashed a short distance away, according to Hayward police.

When authorities reached the vehicle, they found the wounded teen.

Two other occupants of the car were taken into custody near the scene of the crash, police said. A fourth occupant who ran from the vehicle was arrested Wednesday night in San Francisco. None of the car's occupants were identified.

The Hayward Police Department and Alameda County district attorney's office are investigating the shooting.

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