2 dead in Southern California shopping center stabbing

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two people were fatally stabbed Thursday at a Los Angeles County shopping center and a suspect was taken into custody, authorities said.

Deputies called to the scene shortly before noon in Palmdale, north of Los Angeles, found a woman in the parking lot of the Destination O Eight Shopping Center. She was pronounced dead at the scene. A man who had been stabbed at least once in another area of the parking lot died at a hospital, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The names of the victims weren’t immediately released.

A witness described the attack on the woman to KCBS-TV.

“The lady was screaming and running back and forth from the parking lot and (someone) stabbed her a couple of times in the back, on the side of her ribs and her stomach,” she said.

The woman fell down and the killer “walked away from it, came back and started stabbing her again,” Treece said. “Then walked away again, came back, kicked her and stabbed her two more times.”

Authorities took a man into custody at the scene. News video showed a bearded, shirtless man in a vest and cap being held by deputies.

Authorities didn’t immediately mention a motive for the stabbings or say whether the victims knew the suspect.

However, authorities said it appeared that the victims weren’t shopping.