Cops release footage of deadly police shooting near USC
Tomo Chien
February 25, 2025
Good morning. It’s Tuesday, and I’m reading about the perfect girl next door. Onto the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.
1.
LA police released body camera footage of a fatal police shooting near USC last month, in which officers killed a man who advanced on them with a folding knife. Security footage shows the man stabbing a staffer at his residential treatment facility in the face, then later continuing to brandish the knife once officers arrive.
2.
A judge said a USC dad faces an “uphill battle” in a lawsuit against the university, which alleges he was fraudulently ensnared in the Varsity Blues admission scandal. The trial will advance to the next stage, but the judge’s warning that the statute of limitations may have passed does not bode well for the dad’s attempt to clear his name.
3.
LA’s new wildfire recovery czar said the city “lied” to him when he took the job, referring to a $500,000 paycheck the city promised him, then reneged when it drew criticism. The remark was not a good look for Mayor Karen Bass, whose handling of the January wildfires and their fallout has been mired in controversy.
4.
A 74-year-old grandmother won a $7.25 million settlement after her spine was crushed when she disembarked from a Harry Potter ride at Universal Studios. Her attorneys argued that the park was liable because its employees failed to pause a moving walkway that the woman had to step off of.
5.
A team of USC neuroscientists found that mice perform something akin to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on unconscious cage mates, adding to a growing body of research that suggests animals might have altruistic impulses. The behavior was driven by oxytocin-releasing neurons in the brain, the study found.