2 security guards shot while trying to stop shoplifting suspect outside Target in DTLA
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Two separate shootings within blocks of each other left four people injured, including two security guards, Monday night in downtown Los Angeles, according to police.
Shooting at busy shopping plaza
The first incident was reported just before 9 p.m. at the FIGat7th shopping center on Figueroa and 7th streets, just outside of the Target store.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the security guards tried to stop a shoplifting suspect when that suspect pulled out a gun and shot them.
When officers arrived, they found two security guards suffering from gunshot wounds. They were both taken to a local hospital. One of them was shot in the stomach and was listed in critical condition.
The other guard was shot in the arm and leg, and is expected to survive.
Meanwhile, Eyewitness News obtained an exclusive photo of the suspect, who remains at large. Investigators believe he is about 25 years old.
Judith Conway told ABC7 she was waiting in the checkout line when she heard gunshots outside.
"[It was] extremely loud, extremely traumatic," she said. "We all just started running towards the back. We were guided by one of the sales reps, one of the cashiers I should say, at the front. But extremely traumatic, 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."
She recalled seeing people crying and heard several others screaming.
"Some people were running towards the aisles, some people were hiding toward the clothes, everyone just started running and scattering in different directions," said Conway.
Shooting on 7th Street and Maple Avenue
Another shooting near 7th Street and Maple Avenue, which is about a mile from the shopping mall, also injured two people, according to police.
A man and a woman were both rushed to the hospital in an unknown condition. Information on a suspect or suspects in this case was not immediately available.
Investigators do not believe that shooting is connected to the earlier shooting of the two security guards.
