RAMONA, Calif. (AP) -- A security guard was shot and killed in a Kmart parking lot after confronting a suspected shoplifter, authorities said.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department said suspect Andrew Nicholas Griffith, 28, triggered an alarm when he left the store about 2:40 p.m. Saturday.
Griffith was confronted in the parking lot by a security guard and a scuffle started. A second guard soon arrived.
Griffith pulled a handgun from his waistband and fired an unknown number of shots, according to a preliminary Sheriff's report. The 34-year-old guard collapsed, but customers helped subdue and handcuff the suspect.
Several other people, including a retired nurse, provided first aid to the wounded guard until paramedics arrived. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
His name was not released, pending notification of his family.
Griffith was booked on one count of murder, the Sheriff's Department said.
Ramona resident Aaron Abrahamsen, 13, was in the store at the time.
"I was just walking into the garden shop, looking for a friend, and I heard four loud shots that I thought were firecrackers," he said. "They seemed to be near the front of the shop. Tons of employees came running in shouting that someone had been shot.”
