Los Angeles — Two security guards at a downtown Los Angeles shopping district were shot and wounded after confronting a man who was trying to leave the store with a suitcase containing unpaid items, police said Tuesday.
Los Angeles police Officer Drake Madison said security guards opened fire when they confronted the man, who then fled on his bicycle. Madison said both guards were in stable condition Tuesday morning. The suspect has not been arrested.
The shootings capped a year in which California voters expressed frustration amid a perception that retail theft and other crimes were not being controlled. A ballot measure making theft a felony for repeat offenders passed easily, rolling back a law voters passed a decade ago that reduced theft of less than $950 to a misdemeanor. A lack of local data makes it difficult to quantify how severe the problem is, but viral videos earlier this year showed scores of people barging into major retailers and stealing items in large quantities. Voters also ousted several progressive district attorneys.
Judith Conway told KABC-TV that she was in the Target store at the Figat7th outdoor mall when shots rang out and shoppers ran into the aisles, screaming and crying.
“We heard a few shots go off and we pretty much ran to the back, left our stuff on the cart and tried to do our best to be safe,” Conway said.
No other shoppers were injured.
