Inside Weezer bassist Scott Shriner’s wife Jillian Lauren’s famous personal life
‘She was ultimately absentee booked for attempted murder.’
Best-selling author Jillian Lauren, the wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, was taken into custody after being shot at by police in a bizarre incident in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 8.
It is alleged true crime expert Jillian, 51, pointed her gun at officers who were trying to catch a hit-and-run suspect and refused to lower it when asked.
She was reportedly treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound at a local hospital after the incident, but later booked for attempted murder, according to Los Angeles police.
The incident began at 3.25pm on Tuesday afternoon, when police responded to a backup request from the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in locating three misdemeanour hit-and-run suspects.
Uniformed officers responded and were directed by CHP to the back of a residence, where one suspect was seen running.
As the officers arrived at the rear yard of the aforementioned house, they saw a woman, later identified as Lauren, in the yard of a neighbouring house allegedly armed with a handgun.
The police allegedly confronted Jillian behind a residence while pursing hit-and-run suspects (Picture: KTLA) Jillian was not involved in the hit-and-run incident (Picture: KTLA) The incident caused a major backup on the highway (Picture: KTLA‘The officers ordered Shriner [Lauren] to drop the handgun numerous times; however, she refused. Shriner [Lauren] then pointed the handgun at the officers, and an Officer-Involved Shooting occurred,’ the police said.
Jillian was able to run back into her house, returning a few moments later with a second woman, later identified as her babysitter.
It was later determined that Jillian was not involved in the hit-and-run and lived at the residence where she was found.
‘She was ultimately absentee booked for attempted murder,’ police added.
A 9-millimetre handgun was recovered from her residence.
Fans on social media have been reeling since the bizarre story broke, with many wondering who exactly Jillian Lauren is.
Who is Jillian Lauren? Scott Shriner and Jillian have been married since 2005 (Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)Jillian, a successful professional writer, is known for her candid memoirs and work as a true-crime writer.
The 51-year-old has written two memoirs that were met with positive critical and fan reception.
The books are called Some Girls: My Life in a Harem (2010) and Everything You Ever Wanted (2015). In the former, she recounts her time as a member of a harem maintained by Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei in the 1990s. She also wrote the 2011 novel Pretty.
Her second book is just as intimate and revelatory as the first and explores her experience of adopting a child from Ethiopia and becoming a mother alongside Shriner.
A prolific true-crime writer and reporter, Jillian was a large part of the investigation into serial killer Samuel Little, who confessed to committing 93 murders between 1970 and 2005.
Jillian’s USA Today bestselling true crime book Behold the Monster: Facing America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer is based on her extensive interviews with Little.
Her work on trying to find justice for Little’s victims is depicted in the 2021 five-part documentary series, Confronting a Serial Killer. Before his death in 2020, Little named Lauren his next of kin, giving her possession of his ashes and remaining personal posessions.
Jillian has an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University, and her work has appeared in New York Magazine, The Paris Review, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Magazine, Elle, Flaunt Magazine, The Rumpus, and Salon, among others.
Inside Jillian Lauren and Scott Shriner’s family lifeJillian and Scott got married in 2005 in a ceremony in Hawaii.
Jillian has been very open about the couple’s adoption journey after they struggled with infertility. The pair ended up adopting two sons: Tariku from Ethiopia in 2009 and Jovanni Starshine in 2016.
In a 2015 interview with The Rumpus, Jillian said: ‘For a long time, I [Jillian] really felt like I needed to be pregnant. Having been adopted, I never was around someone who looked like me. I felt like I needed a pregnancy to feel this primal connection to the earth.’
The pair adopted two sons (Picture: jillianlauren / Instagram)She continued: ‘But what I found was that I received that feeling of connection and belonging through Tariku, and also through the other families in the adoption community who we’ve met on this journey.’
She’s also shared that her son Tariku has special needs, explaining in an interview with Motherhood Later: ‘My son has PTSD and Sensory Integration Issues. Some people look at me skeptically when I discuss the impact of early childhood trauma and PTSD. It’s hard to bear witness to the suffering of our fellow humans, especially children, and not know how to address it. But ignoring it doesn’t make the problem go away.
‘Early childhood trauma has a very real effect on neurochemical responses. As a trauma survivor, my kid responds to every perceived danger as a threat to his very existence, and he fights it accordingly. It takes patient, consistent, fearless love to help these kids feel safe in the world, and as a result to begin to rewire their brains.’
In a blog post about adopting their second child in 2016, Jillian wrote: ‘We call him Jovi. Jovi Starshine. Tariku picked his middle name and you have to meet him to know how wonderfully apropos it is. This kid sparkles with joy and sweetness and resilience and mischief and creativity and curiosity and music and dancing and delight.
‘“Look what we did,” I said to Scott on the ride home, somewhat astounded to be watching our children happily munching animal crackers, listening to their favorite songs, getting crumbs all over their good suits. We made a family. “Look what we did,” he agreed. My heart is a balloon. Meet Jovi. He is perfect. We are perfect together.’
Weezer is scheduled to perform at Coachella this weekend and it’s unknown if the incident will prevent Scott from appearing.
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