LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two safety guards had been shot and wounded at a downtown Los Angeles procuring space after they confronted a person attempting to stroll out of a retailer with a suitcase containing objects he hadn’t paid for, police mentioned Tuesday.
The guards confronted the person, pictures had been fired, and the person fled on a bicycle, Los Angeles Police Officer Drake Madison mentioned. Each guards had been in steady situation Tuesday morning, Madison mentioned. The suspect hasn’t been apprehended.
The taking pictures ends a yr wherein California voters showcased their frustration with retail theft and different crime amid a notion it’s been allowed to go unchecked. A poll measure making shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders handed simply, rolling again a regulation handed by voters a decade in the past that downgraded theft below $950 to a misdemeanor. An absence of native information makes it arduous to quantify how dangerous the issue is, however viral movies earlier this yr confirmed hordes of individuals operating into main retail shops and shoplifting in mass. Voters additionally ousted a number of progressive district attorneys.
Judith Conway advised KABC-TV she was in a Goal retailer on the FIGat7th outside shopping center when pictures rang out, sending buyers operating within 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 mentioned.
No different buyers had been injured.