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

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

SeattlePI.com

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man and a woman were killed in a shooting at a Los Angeles clothing store Thursday, and another woman was injured and taken to a hospital, authorities said.

At least one of the two people killed was fatally shot by police. The shooting occurred around 11:45 a.m. 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 when they saw the suspect assaulting another person.

The suspect was struck by the officers' bullets and killed, Spell said. The person who was being assaulted was also pronounced dead at the scene and had gunshot wounds, but it was not immediately clear if they had been shot by police or the suspect.

Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Nicholas Prange said a man and a woman died at the scene. Authorities did not immediately say which person was the suspect and whether the suspect had a gun.

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. It was not immediately clear what weapon was involved in that 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...

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