‘She was targeted’: LAPD to open inquiry into Nine reporter shooting

The LAPD will be opening an investigation into the shooting of Nine reporter Lauren Tomasi with a sponge bullet during a protest yesterday. Tomasi told Mumbrella the Australian consulate had informed her the police would be conducting an inquiry into the shooting, which was caught on video.

Tomasi said she could walk freely and “did not want to be the story” after being hit in the lower leg while covering the LA immigration protests. The projectile was almost certainly a 40mm-diameter “sponge-baton” round, designed to deliver non-lethal force and fired from a special riot weapon. These bullets have a hard-plastic base and sponge tip.

“It was clear I was a member of the press, filming a report,” she said. “I had a mask for tear gas, and we were following police direction, standing off to the side.”