2 security guards shot by shoplifting suspect in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES — Two security guards were shot and wounded at a downtown Los Angeles shopping area after they confronted a man trying to walk out of a store with a suitcase containing items he hadn’t paid for, police said Tuesday.

The guards confronted the man, shots were fired, and the man fled on a bicycle, Los Angeles Police Officer Drake Madison said. Both guards were in stable condition Tuesday morning, Madison said. The suspect hasn’t been apprehended.

The shooting ends a year in which California voters showcased their frustration with retail theft and other crime amid a perception it’s been allowed to go unchecked. A ballot measure making shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders passed easily, rolling back a law passed by voters a decade ago that downgraded theft under $950 to a misdemeanor. A lack of local data makes it hard to quantify how bad the problem is, but viral videos earlier this year showed hordes of people running into major retail stores and shoplifting in mass. Voters also ousted several progressive district attorneys.

Judith Conway told KABC-TV she was in a Target store at the FIGat7th outdoor shopping mall when shots rang out, sending shoppers running in 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 said.

No other shoppers were injured.