Target store stabbing: 3 injured, suspect shot dead in downtown Los Angeles

A stabbing incident inside a Target store in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday has left three people injured. According to local police, two of the victims were in critical condition.

One of the victims was said to be a 9-year-old boy. Police said that the suspect was shot and killed by a security guard.

LAPD Officer Luis Garcia said told the Los Angeles Times that the suspect, who is now in custody, was shot by a security guard. 

There is no information on the suspect’s condition, the officer said. 

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Police arrived at the scene after receiving a 911 call. Inside the Target store, police found three individuals suffering from stab wounds. 

Police Chief Michel Moore said at a news conference that the suspect was a 40-year-old homeless man entered the store and grabbed a large butcher-style knife from a shelf. He then approached a 9-year-old boy, saying several times that he was going to kill him.

He first stabbed the boy in the back and then went to another area of the store where he stabbed a 25-year-old woman in the chest, Moore said. A third person was slightly injured as customers fled the store.

“Out of nowhere, we heard people screaming,” Kevin Zaragoza, who was shopping at the store, told KABC-TV. “We rushed to the front. Right there by the exit we see a girl on the floor, blood all over her.”

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“After that, we see the whole LAPD swarming in there with shotguns, all types of stuff. It was crazy.”

The attacker didn’t know the victims, police said.

The Target store where the incident took place is located at the popular shopping complex at Figueroa and 7th streets. Police searched the building to locate any more victims.