(DENVER) — Families and officials in Colorado began returning to their towns that were ravaged by last week’s wildfires.

Gov. Jared Polis said in a news conference Sunday that over 1,000 homes were destroyed in the fires, which started on Thursday, and many more were damaged. The governor didn’t have an exact figure on how many people were affected, but said it was in the “thousands.”

Over the weekend, some families returned home and got a firsthand look at the damage. Burned cars and scorched homes were covered in snow.

“For many, this seems like a surreal experience,” Polis said. “It’s a shock, and the reality hasn’t even set in for a lot of people.”

Polis added that residents will have a long road ahead of them.

As of Sunday afternoon, only two of the 35,000 people who were evacuated from their homes are unaccounted for, according to officials.

One of the missing persons is a woman from Superior, Colorado, who was reported missing by her family, and the other is a man near Marshall, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office said it has been “a very difficult search” since the locations are still deep in debris and snow.

There were 600 homes without power outside the burn zone as of Sunday, and they are expected to regain power by end of day, the sheriff’s office said. There are 1,000 homes within the burn zone without power, according to the sheriff.

Xcel Energy Colorado said that natural gas service has been restored for 1,200 customers in the Superior and Louisville areas, and more households will see service restored by Tuesday.

Deanne Criswell, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a former Colorado firefighter, surveyed the damage Sunday and reiterated support from the federal government. There were already 100 FEMA agents on the ground in the area, according to Criswell.

“That number will grow over the coming days and weeks,” she said during the news conference.

Polis said abnormal weather was a factor, as dry grassland fueled the fire.

“Most times around Christmas and New Year’s, we would be under 6 inches or a foot of snow,” the governor said.

Polis said historic wind gusts of up to 110 miles per hour caused the fire to spread through several counties.

An official with direct knowledge of the investigation said that as of Monday afternoon, investigators probing the cause of the Marshall Fire have not found any evidence directly tying the fire to an act of arson. “While the FBI has helped in the form of performing interviews and evidence collection, we should not read too far into this at this juncture,” the official said. “The federal criminal investigators have and will take a backseat in this probe until evidence has been found directly tying the cause to criminal arson. The snow on the ground has made the evidence gathering process very slow.”

 

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(NEW YORK) — Protesters are calling for the firing or arrest of LAPD Officer William Jones Jr. in the fatal shooting of Valentina Orellana Peralta, a 14-year-old girl who was in a clothing store dressing room when she was killed.

“We cannot allow for these things to go unresolved,” said Chloë Cheyenne, an activist and the CEO of social justice media app COMMUNITYx, who is running the Justice for Valentina website and petition. “Police officers must be held accountable for their bullet.”

Valentina, a Chilean immigrant, was killed on Dec. 23 while shopping with her mother at a Burlington clothing store in North Hollywood, California. She was in a dressing room when Jones opened fire on an assault with a deadly weapon suspect in the store, according to officials.

The wall of the dressing room Peralta was in was behind the suspect when he was shot, police said, adding that Peralta was not in view of officers when the shooting occurred.

Demonstrators, some of whom have experienced police violence within their own families, are demanding justice for Peralta and supporting her family. A petition to get body camera footage and surveillance footage from the incident and to bring charges against Jones has received thousands of signatures.

The LAPD has published 911 calls, radio transmissions, body camera footage and surveillance video from the incident. The department’s policy is to release video of incidents like police shootings within 45 days, but the footage was published just five days after the incident.

“We are really critical of this excess of police culture that makes it OK for officers to shoot and kill Black and brown people and for officers to freely open fire in Black and brown communities in a way that does not happen in white suburban communities?” Cheyenne said, noting that Los Angeles is a predominantly Latino city.

Though some demonstrators are calling for Jones’ arrest, others say that justice should also come by way of police reform and a rethinking of what policing in America should look like.

“I think that to not have a conversation about policing and its actual function in our society, I think would be wrongheaded,” said Albert Corado from the local activist organization, the People’s City Council. “We need to talk about why police are so emboldened to do what they do.”

“They were given military grade equipment, they were given bigger budgets, more oversight and more wiggle room to do whatever they want,” Corado said of police in recent years — before the recent push for police reform.

According to the Los Angeles Times, police in Los Angeles County have killed about 951 people since 2000 — about four people each month, over the last 22 years.

Corado said his sister was killed by police in an incident that mirrors Peralta’s, and that police violence is all too common in the city.

“I went to the first press conference that [Peralta’s family] did and it was a little triggering,” Corado said. “I’m hoping that people now take the outrage they’re feeling and actually transform this.”

In a Dec. 27 statement on the incident, LAPD Chief Michel R. Moore said, “This chaotic incident resulting in the death of an innocent child is tragic and devastating for everyone involved. I am profoundly sorry for the loss of this young girl’s life and I know there are no words that can relieve the unimaginable pain for the family.”

He added, “My commitment is to conduct a thorough, complete and transparent investigation into the circumstances that led up to this tragedy and provide the family and public with as much information as possible.”

Per California law, the California attorney general will be investigating and independently reviewing the officer-involved shooting.

Jones is on paid administrative leave pending the results of the investigation.

The LAPD union, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said Jones followed procedure, though Tom Saggau, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said Peralta’s death was an “absolute, tragic accident.”

“The officer had just completed the mass casualty active shooter training that the LAPD puts on, just a couple of weeks prior to the incident,” said Saggau, who doesn’t believe Jones should be arrested. “He was very much in tune with how and what he was to do, responding to what he believed to be an active shooter.”

Saggau also said that Jones talked openly about his experiences with racism and tackled issues in policing. He started a non-profit called Officers for Change, which donated school supplies from fellow officers.

Jones’ lawyer, Leslie Wilcox, did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

The suspect, Daniel Elena Lopez, did not have a gun at the scene, according to officials. He had a metal bike lock that was allegedly used to assault a woman and break glass. According to audio released by the LAPD, several 911 callers told dispatchers that they suspected Lopez had a gun.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner declared Peralta’s manner of death a homicide, with the cause of death being a gunshot wound to the chest. The suspect, Lopez, was also fatally shot.

“To see a son or daughter die in your arms is one of … the greatest pains and most profound pains that any human being can imagine,” Peralta’s mother, Soledad Peralta, said. “Now, our sweet angel has left us forever. Please give us strength, Valentina.”

The Peralta family is being represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has also represented the families of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and more.

 

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