A robbery suspect was killed in a deputy-involved shooting outside a Michaels store in the San Fernando Valley on Thursday night.
Los Angeles County deputies responded to the Fallbrook Center shopping plaza in the 6600 block of Fallbrook Avenue in West Hills around 8:30 p.m.
Sky5 footage showed a body covered by a canopy in the parking lot as shoppers and bystanders gathered nearby amid a large law enforcement presence.
A woman at the scene, who was not identified, told KTLA’s Sandra Mitchell that the person killed was her 18-year-old grandson from Moreno Valley.
“I have no idea what happened,” she said. “He just came to stay with me for a day last night and he went out with his girlfriend. The girlfriend called my daughter and told me my grandson got shot.”
Details remain limited, but the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the male suspect was under investigation in connection with a series of armed robberies in Calabasas. His identity has not been released.
Just outside the store entrance, paramedics appeared to be providing medical treatment to another person. A window near the entrance was riddled with bullet holes.
“We heard gunshots, I think it was an automatic weapon,” said witness Shaun Dadon.
Dadon said authorities attempted life-saving measures on the man who was shot, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Deputies later witnessed a vehicle speeding away from the area, prompting a pursuit.
“We saw some undercover [law enforcement] cars, at least five or six of them, chasing a vehicle out of the parking lot,” Dadon recalled.
The driver was eventually pulled over in Agoura Hills and taken into custody.
Investigators have not released details about how the pursuit is connected to the shooting or what initially led deputies to respond to the shopping plaza.
The circumstances surrounding the deadly shooting remain under investigation.