A “brave” female shopper shot dead an alleged creep who groped another customer and threatened to kill everyone inside a Los Angeles beauty store.
Deputies responded to reports of a shooting at Pink Beauty Supply in Compton around 3:30 p.m. Sunday and found a man dead from a gunshot wound, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Officials said the man entered the store and followed a female customer before he groped her, prompting employees to demand he leave.
The alleged pervert became “increasingly verbally assaultive toward employees and customers,” and started “throwing and damaging merchandise in the store.”
“The incident rapidly escalated. Employees and customers noted that the male had an object in his hand that they believed was a knife,” officials said.
“The male made verbal threats that he was going to kill and harm everyone in the store.”
Following the threats, another female customer pulled out a gun and fired a warning shot at the suspect.
The man, however, rushed at the armed female customer, who fired a fatal second shot.
Police did not identify the man who was killed, but CBS LA reported he was a 42-year-old with possible gang ties and a criminal record that included assaults, robberies, and thefts.
Cops said the customer who pulled the trigger did so out of fear for her safety and was not arrested. She is also cooperating with detectives during the investigation.
The LA County District Attorney’s office will decide whether the woman needs to face charges, ABC 7 reported.
The investigation remains ongoing, police said.
A witness to the shooting praised the “brave” customer who shot the suspect as a hero.
“It’s crazy to me because children go in there a lot, so what if I was there by myself and that just automatically went off? I could’ve gotten hit or something could’ve happened to me,” an unidentified witness told KABC.
“I’m glad that the woman that did it was brave enough to even go and do something like that to save somebody else.”
Surveillance footage from the beauty store suggests additional customers were present during the altercation and shooting, investigators said.
Frequent shoppers Almond Le Joice and Melody Johnson were stunned, calling the incident unexpected for a store that’s been part of the neighborhood for years and is usually calm and friendly.
“Why would somebody do that here?” Le Joice told CBS LA, shocked that a customer was inside the store with a gun.
“I’m glad nobody else got hurt, but for her to walk in here and have a weapon, that’s concerning,” Johnson said. “That’s awful that this happened here in this community.”
Compton ranked among America’s deadliest cities in 2024 — landing ninth for homicide rate, according to the Center for Public Safety Initiatives.
Data provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department shows that violent crime — especially killings — has plummeted by 8% in the last year.
