According to authorities, a security guard was injured and a suspect was killed during a ferocious gun battle inside a smoke shop in California.
The terrible incident occurred on April 3, but police have only recently released CCTV footage and a statement describing what happened in an effort to locate murder suspects who are still on the loose.
As the suspects circled the counter, one drew a firearm and pointed it at an employee who worked as a security guard at the business.
More details of the incident from the LASD report:
Kahlel Malik Lundy, 23, Keith Terrion Rachel, 21, and two others entered the “Smoke Shop” at the 1500 block of S. Wilmington Avenue at 6:54 p.m. on April 3. Although all four suspects pulled their guns on the employee, who was wearing what appears to be a bullet-proof vest with “SECURITY” printed across the back, he also drew “and a gun battle between the armed men ensued. The suspects left the ‘Smoke Shop’ and fled the scene.”
Although the guard sustained gunshot wounds to his face and neck, he was released from the hospital. About 30 minutes after the shootout, however, “deputies responded to Martin Luther King Hospital regarding a gunshot victim. Investigators discovered the gunshot victim was one of the ‘Smoke Shop’ robbers whom the store employee had shot.”
He was treated but later died at the hospital.
A second suspect was arrested on April 4 but Lundy and Rachel are still on the lam.
The department said:
“Kahlel Lundy and Keith Rachel were identified as participating in the robbery and are currently at large. Both Kahlel Lundy and Keith Rachel are wanted for murder, and LASD Homicide Bureau is seeking the public’s assistance in locating them.”
#LASD Homicide Bureau Seeking Homicide Suspects, #Compton – https://t.co/KAd8QPCrfYhttps://t.co/pcEWBPREU0 pic.twitter.com/scfPEKhp4K
— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) May 4, 2022
Business owners told the publication that there’s been violence there before.
Roy Lugo, a frequent customer, said:
“I’m scared [and] nervous because it’s not right. There’s a lot of people [in the strip mall] all the time. If it keeps going like this, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Watch it here: Youtube/David Darmen
Sources: Westernjournal, Theworldnews, Theworldwatch
