Authorities in Los Angeles charged Jillian Shriner with attempted murder on Tuesday, in the culmination of a dramatic scene that started with a hit-and-run and neighborhood manhunt and ended with a police shooting.
Members of the Los Angeles Police Department shot the wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner outside her home, during a search for suspects related to a hit-and-run on the nearby 134 Freeway. The author was not a suspect in the hit-and-run. Police allege she stepped outside of her home holding a handgun during the police department’s search of the neighborhood.
In a Wednesday press release announcing the charges against Jillian Shriner, the LAPD claim she refused orders to drop her weapon and took aim at an officer before being shot in the shoulder.
Per police, Shriner went inside her home after being struck, later surrendering to police and receiving treatment for her gunshot wound at a nearby hospital. The LAPD also says officers recovered a firearm from her home.
The writer covered the department and its prosecution of Samuel Little, a Los Angeles serial killer and the subject of her 2023 true crime book, “Behold the Monster: Facing America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer.”
The incident and subsequent charges have confused commentators, with some social media users questioning the validity of the attempted murder charges.
“I’m not sure the LAPD account of how they shot the Weezer bassist’s wife is gonna hold up mostly because it sounds like the most ridiculous story imaginable and they’re not very good liars,” one user wrote on Bluesky.
It’s still unclear why Shriner was carrying a gun or why law enforcement entered her yard, though the LAPD says officers were searching a neighboring yard at the time of the confrontation.
“Shriner was uninvolved in the hit-and-run and lived at the residence where she was observed,” the LAPD statement clarified.
Shriner, a former Salon contributor, posted bail on Wednesday shortly after her arrest. She is scheduled to appear in court later this month.
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