Deadly store shooting erupts after man hits police officer

CORONA, Riverside County — A fatal shooting inside a Costco Wholesale warehouse store Friday night took place after a man attacked an off-duty police officer, the Corona Police Department said.

Kenneth French, 32, of Riverside assaulted the Los Angeles Police Department officer while he was holding his young child, the department said in a statement. The officer fired his gun, hitting French and two of French’s relatives, the department said.

French was killed, the department said. The relatives are in critical condition at hospitals.

The officer, whose identity is being withheld, was treated and released at a hospital, and the officer’s child was not injured, the department said.

The officer was the only person who fired shots in the store, the department said.

The shooting prompted a stampede of frightened shoppers to flee the store and seek cover inside. Witnesses said they saw a man with a Mohawk haircut arguing with someone near a freezer section when shots rang out at least six times. The man involved in the argument was killed, Corona police Lt. Jeff Edwards said.

Witnesses said there was an altercation. Shoppers and employees described chaos when shots rang out shortly before 8 p.m. Friday and police swarmed the store.

The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement Saturday afternoon that it has launched its own investigation of the incident. Witnesses told KCALTV that shoppers and employees rushed to the exits. The station reported that more than 100 people were outside the store at one point. Left behind inside the store were purses, cell phones and backpacks from panicked shoppers, Corona police said.