A homeless man has stabbed two people inside of a Target store in Downtown Los Angeles — and one of the victims was a nine-year-old boy.
The incident occurred at the Target located on 7th Street and Figueroa Street at about 6:20 p.m. on Tuesday.
“It’s a troubling night with Los Angeles here — to see this type of violence in our city,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore during a press conference.
The homeless man had grabbed a butcher knife off of a store shelf and used it to attack the random shoppers.
His first victim was the child, who had separated from their mom inside of the store.
“Told the young boy that he was going to stab him and kill him,” Moore said. “He repeated that more than once.”
Moore explained that “without any further provocation [he] suddenly attacked and stabbed this young child in the back.”
The child suffered a “deep laceration in his left shoulder.”
The attacker’s second victim was a 25-year-old Asian woman who was “brutally” stabbed in the chest, according to Moore.
CBS News Los Angeles reports that “Good Samaritans pulled the female victim into a pharmacy and closed the gate to protect them against the suspect.”
“The suspect then continued on his path towards the front of the store near some cashiers,” Moore said. “When a security officer employed by Target, a security officer in uniform, comes across him and then confronts him.”
CBS reports that “the two stabbing victims were taken to the hospital, along with the suspect. The two victims remain in critical condition. The child has been stabilized but since he sustained some potential neurological damage continues to be listed as critical.”
“The female victim that was stabbed in the chest is in worse condition,” said Moore. “She has now entered into surgery and they’re working to stop the bleeding encountered by this deep stab wound to the front of her chest.”
The suspect was not publicly named but was declared dead at the hospital.