Big box retailer Target is in legal hot water over two store stabbings in its Los Angeles store, located in the city’s financial district.
A pair of families have slapped the retail giant with lawsuits charging Target with negligence after a 40-year-old homeless man stabbed two shoppers last November.
The unprovoked attacks happened inside a Target at the FIGat7th shopping center, as the suspect grabbed a butcher knife off a store shelf and used it to stab Brayden Medina, a nine-year-old boy who tried to run away. According to Los Angeles police chief Michel Moore, the man confronted Medina and threatened to “stab and kill him.”
He then stabbed 25-year-old Joo Hye Song in the chest. Song tried to intervene by shielding Medina from further attacks.
That suspect, whose name hasn’t been released by L.A. police, was fatally shot by a store security guard. Police report that the suspect did not know the victims.
This week both Song and Medina’s families filed suit against Target, alleging the company shouldn’t have potential weapons like a large butcher knife out in the open and unsecured. The lawsuit also charges Target for lax security responding to the attack.
Target issued a formal statement released on the company’s website.
"Safety is our top priority and our hearts go out to the guests who were injured," the statement noted. "We're grateful for the aid provided by the Los Angeles Police Department and others, and we’re focusing on supporting our team in the wake of the incident."
With crime rising in major U.S. urban areas and with less “foot traffic” in big city stores, Target recently announced it would shutter stores in Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. in May, 2023.
