Transgender YouTube star 'Furry Potato' shot while filming outside synagogue
Police arrest 44-year-old security guard for 'assault with a deadly weapon'
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Your support makes all the difference.A transgender YouTube personality claims she was “shot in the leg” by a security guard while livestreaming outside a Jewish synagogue.
Zhoie Perez, 45, who goes by the name Furry Potato, was treated for a “non-life-threatening injury” following the incident outside the Etz Jacob Congregation synagogue/Ohel Chana High School in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Video footage uploaded to Ms Perez’s YouTube channel shows her zooming in and out on a security guard who can be seen standing behind a gate holding a handgun.
It is not clear why she was filming the man.
The security guard tells her to get away from the gate before he appears to aim his gun at the ground and a shot can be heard.
The camera shakes as Ms Perez appears to run away while shouting expletives and claiming she has been hit in the leg.
The security guard is then captured on camera telling Ms Perez that it was “a warning shot”.
He later insists that he fired at the ground.
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) confirmed Edduin Zelayagrunfeld, 44, had been arrested “for a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon (firearm)”.
The police force said in a statement: “On 14 February around 12pm, Wilshire division officers responded to a radio call of a disturbance at a school near the intersection of Beverly Boulevard and Stanley Avenue.
“Prior to arrival of officers, the radio call was upgraded to a shooting just occurred.
“When the officers arrived, they located an individual that was suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg.”
A spokesperson added: “The officers then located an armed security guard who was working at the school.
“Further investigation revealed that the security guard was involved in the shooting that occurred, and he was detained.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, Ms Perez later described her wound as a “deep graze”.
Ms Perez is part of an online community of people who carry out “First Amendment audits” which involves filming police officers to see how they react.
As part of the practice, an “auditor” stands filming in a public place and refuses to stop or identify who they are when approached by a police officer.
The people who film the videos consider themselves to be testing their constitutional rights.
Ms Perez’s YouTube channel Furry Potato has more than 18,000 subscribers and contains videos of her filming the exterior of other businesses and government buildings, while confronting people, security guards, and police officers.