Armed men escape mall during police standoff

WESTCHESTER, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Fourteen people were released after being held hostage inside a Nordstrom Rack store in Westchester all night during an armed robbery. The search is still on for at least two suspects. 

The situation started at about 11 p.m. Thursday when a husband or boyfriend of an employee called police to say there was an armed robbery. When officers arrived at the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center, they saw a man who was acting strangely run into the Nordstrom Rack. They then saw another suspicious man grab a woman and take her into the store.

"They observed a second suspect walking out of the store in the company of a female. That suspect looked in the direction of the officers, grabbed the female and forced her back inside the Nordstrom," said LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman.

SWAT officers surrounded the shopping center and closed off the area. After a couple of hours, they forced their way into the Nordstrom Rack at about 2 a.m. and found a group of hostages, 13 women and 1 man, huddled together and frightened. Police say they were all employees.

"The majority of them were in one location, a storage room in one part of the store," said Neiman.
Police confirmed that one female hostage was sexually assaulted. She was transported to a local hospital. One other person who was stabbed was treated and released at the scene. There were reports that a third person was pistol-whipped, but authorities could not confirm that information.

The robbery suspects are still at large. The hostages told police the suspects carried weapons. It is unclear what was stolen from the store, and police do not know how the suspects escaped.-[Full Article]

[Webmaster - This is what happens in a GUN-FREE ZONE.]