Store worker stabbed to death

A 24-year-old woman was stabbed to death Thursday while working at a Hancock Park furniture store, and Los Angeles police said the killer remained at large.

Brianna Kupfer was working alone inside the Croft House furniture store in the 300 block of North La Brea Avenue when a man entered the store, attacked her and stabbed her to death, said Det. Herman Frettlohr of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Riley Rea, co-owner of Croft House, said Kupfer was smart, confident, calm and beloved by her co-workers at the store, where she had worked for a little more than a year.

“She was mature beyond her years,” Rea said.

Rea said he’s never heard of any violence or unprovoked attacks at his store, which has been at the same location in Hancock Park for the last 12 years.

Kupfer, who was from Pacific Palisades, was taking an exterior design course at UCLA Extension while working at Croft House, Rea said.

“I’m absolutely devastated for her and her family,” he said. “It just seems so disgusting and unexpected. Really there are no words to say how shocked we are to lose such a wonderful person.”

The assailant, described as a man in his 20s or 30s, was wearing a black hoodie, black skinny jeans, dark shoes, sunglasses and a white N95 mask, according to video surveillance footage.

He exited the store through the back after the attack, according to the LAPD.

A customer found Kupfer and called 911 shortly before 2 p.m. Kupfer was pronounced dead by paramedics, and police don’t believe she knew her killer.

Police would not say whether a weapon was found at the scene.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call Los Angeles police at (877) 527-3247.