2 die in shooting at Los Angeles store; 1 woman hospitalised
Los Angeles, Dec 24: A man and a woman died in a shooting at a Los Angeles clothing store Thursday, authorities said, and one woman was injured and taken to a hospital.
The shooting occurred around 11:45 am at a Burlington Coat Factory store in the North Hollywood area of the San Fernando Valley, said Los Angeles police Detective Meghan Aguilar.
Police responded to reports of a person being assaulted with a deadly weapon as well as reports of shots being fired, according to Los Angeles police Capt Stacy Spell, who spoke at a news conference. Spell said officers opened fire on the suspect.
Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Nicholas Prange said a man and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities did not immediately say which was the suspect, if the suspect had a gun, or if both deceased were struck by police gunfire.
Prange said a woman with moderate-to-serious injuries was transported to a hospital. It wasn’t immediately known if she’d been shot.
Spell said the injured woman was the victim in the first assault report.
He added that police had received calls about the suspect acting erratically before the incident.
Imelda Garcia said her sister works in the store and was on break when she heard gunshots and everyone started running. Garcia said she spoke to her sister on the phone and that she’s OK but sounded “really nervous”.
Police escorted people out of the store nearly two hours after the incident.
No other details were immediately released.