LA NIGHTMARE: Video shows large group of vandals storming and ransacking 7-Eleven
WILLOWBROOK, LOS ANGELES: A crowd entered a 7-Eleven in the early hours of Monday, August 15 to grab snacks, drinks, tobacco products and lottery tickets, before ransacking the convenience store and fleeing, as captured in a surveillance video.
According to the investigators at the Los Angeles Police Department, the ransackers included participants in a "flash mob" street takeover who stole items from the store while throwing merchandise at employees.
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As per the cops, the incident started around 12.40 am on Monday, August 15 at the intersection of Figueroa Street and El Segundo Boulevard in the Willowbrook neighborhood of South LA. The mob fled the scene before the authorities arrived.
The cops in a statement said, "Motorists flooded the intersection and blocked traffic with their vehicles from all directions to create a 'pit' in the middle of the intersection." The mob then entered the convenience store at the northwest corner of Figueroa and El Segundo. The video posted by the Los Angeles Police Department shows several people standing outside the store, appearing to be recording it on their mobiles.
‘Flash Mob’ Looters Ransack Convenient Store after Street Takeover
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) August 18, 2022
On August 15 around 12:40am a street takeover initiated at Figueroa and El Segundo. The spectators then formed a ‘flash mob’ of looters and rushed a nearby 7-Eleven.
News Release: https://t.co/3IZOBqk0H6 pic.twitter.com/ti0SNqc9Jr
Inside the store, the video shows people collecting items such as chips and other snacks. Many people also slide over the cashier's counter, destroying the counter in the process to take boxes of tobacco products, while throwing some of it to the waiting crowd. Some can also be seen picking up lottery tickets.
Police are still looking for the suspects and no arrests have been made so far. The incident happened just after a separate street takeover in which a teenager was shot dead on Sunday, August 14, about one and a half mile away in the area of Willowbrook. The cops were called at 11.57 pm to the 13400 block of Mettler Avenue after receiving a report of a shooting and street racing. Upon arrival, they found an unconscious boy between the age of 15 and 20.
#LASD Homicide Detectives Responding to a Shooting Investigation, 13400 block of Mettler Avenue #LosAngeles https://t.co/YzUoUfIKvH
— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) August 15, 2022
According to the LA County Sheriff's Department, the boy had several gunshot wounds and was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead. The authorities added that the incident does not look gang-related. Additionally, there was no information regarding a suspect or suspect vehicle at the time.
Anyone with information on the 7-Eleven incident is asked to contact LAPD South Traffic Division detectives at (323) 421-2500 or STDdetectives@lapd.online.