LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two security guards at a downtown Los Angeles shopping plaza were wounded in a gunfight with a man as they tried to stop him from making off with more than $1,000 of stolen merchandise, police said Tuesday.
The guards confronted the man as he left a Target store at the FIGat7th outdoor shopping mall Monday night. The suspect fired at least five rounds and one of the guards fired as well, Los Angeles Police Capt. Raul Jovel said in a news conference. The man fled and police were still searching for him.
“We’re really lucky nobody got killed in this incident,” Jovel said. He added of the suspect: “We know he’s violent and we know he’s armed.”
The shooting ends a year in which California voters showcased their frustration with retail theft and other crime amid a perception it’s been allowed to go unchecked. A ballot measure making shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders passed easily, rolling back a law passed by voters a decade ago that downgraded theft under $950 to a misdemeanor. A lack of local data makes it hard to quantify how bad the problem is, but viral videos earlier this year showed hordes of people running into major retail stores and shoplifting in mass. Voters also ousted several progressive district attorneys.
In Los Angeles, Jovel said the man had crammed more than $1,000 of merchandise into his bag, including stationery and clothing. Jovel asked the public to report any information about the suspect to police and warned that he is considered dangerous.
Jovel said one of the guards was a loss prevention officer for Target and the other an armed security officer for the mall.
Judith Conway told KABC-TV she was in the Target store when the shots rang out, sending shoppers running in the aisles and screaming and crying.
“We heard several rounds go off, and we just pretty much ran towards the back and just left our items in the cart, and just tried to do the best that we could to get to safety,” Conway said.
There were no immediate reports of shoppers injured in the incident.
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