2 die in shooting at Los Angeles store; 1 woman hospitalised

The shooting occurred at a Burlington Coat Factory store in the North Hollywood area of the San Fernando Valley

Police officers arrive the scene where two people were struck by gunfire in a shooting at the Burlington Coat Factory store in North Hollywood. — AP

By AP

Published: Fri 24 Dec 2021, 2:35 AM

Two people have died in a shooting at a Los Angeles clothing store on Thursday, authorities said.

Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Nicholas Prange said a man and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene. It wasn’t immediately clear which was the suspect.

The shooting occurred around 11.45am at a Burlington Coat Factory store in the North Hollywood area of the San Fernando Valley, said Los Angeles police Detective Meghan Aguilar.

Los Angeles police Capt. Stacy Spell said police responded to reports of a person being assaulted with a deadly weapon as well as reports of shots being fired. Spell said officers opened fire on the suspect. He said it wasn’t immediately known 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 report of assault.

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.

There were no other immediate details.