Southern California authorities continued to investigate Wednesday after a man allegedly shot a woman to death inside Kohl’s department store in Los Angeles County Tuesday evening, just days before Christmas, during an alleged domestic incident and fled the scene.
There was a large police presence Tuesday evening at the Whittwood Town Center in the city of Whittier, located about 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles, after police received reports of shots fired. The shooting happened inside the Kohl’s around 5:30 p.m.
Witnesses told police a man and woman were arguing by the cash registers when the man pulled out a gun and shot her. He then reportedly left the store before officers could arrive to apprehend him, Newsweek reported.
First responders attended to a woman found lying on the floor inside the store, but she did not survive and was pronounced dead at the scene, Fox 11 reported. The public was asked to stay away from the area, the Whittier Police Department said in a Facebook update on Tuesday evening.
Police believe the suspect fled the scene, possibly leaving in a silver Nissan, KABC reported.
"It appears that a male and a female were in some type of verbal altercation inside of the Kohl's and at some point the male produced a handgun, shot the female and fled the scene," Whittier Officer Hugo Figueroa told reporters at the scene. "We believe it's a domestic violence case, but we don't know what the relationship between the male and female is."
COLORADO GRANDMOTHER GETS $2.4M AFTER BEING WRONGFULLY ARRESTED WHILE NAKED
The victim has been publicly identified only as a 45-year-old Hispanic woman. No suspect has been publicly named by authorities.
The police department told Fox News over the phone Wednesday morning that the investigation remained ongoing and more information could not be shared at this time. The watch commander on duty declined to answer if the suspect still remained at large.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Those shopping at the time of the incident described a chaotic scene after several gunshots rang out, according to Fox 11. The store alarm went off and people began to flee, leaving clothes and other items strewn across the floor. The gunman left after shooting the woman, and therefore there was no ongoing active shooter situation as shoppers were evacuated.