Security Guard Fatally Shot Outside Mall

A security guard was fatally shot and a second guard was wounded in the arm outside a Sears department store in the Mall of Orange on Friday as scores of shoppers milled nearby.

Police said the slain guard was struck twice in the chest and died on the way to the hospital. His killer, who remains at large, had tried to shoplift a paint sprayer, police said.

“This is such a sad ending,” said Jose Naranjo, a Sears employee who worked with the slain guard. “He was such a quiet, nice guy.”

The incident began about 4 p.m. when a man approached a clerk in Sears and said that he had recently purchased the new paint sprayer he was carrying and wanted a refund, even though he did not have a receipt, police Lt. Art Romo said.

The clerk became suspicious that the man had shoplifted the sprayer and called two store security officers, who asked the man for identification, Romo said.

Police and witnesses said the man and the two unarmed security officers walked to the parking lot, apparently to get identification from the suspect’s car.

“We’re not sure what exactly happened or what words were exchanged, but there was a physical struggle,” Romo said.

The suspect pulled out a handgun and shot one of the guards in the chest “at pretty close range,” Romo said. The second guard was shot at least once in the arm and stepped back into the store.

The gunman got into a silver Buick Skylark driven by a second person, and they sped away.

Police have not released the names of the guards. The wounded guard was in stable condition Friday night at a hospital.

Romo said some witnesses described the driver of the Skylark as a woman, while others believed that the driver was a heavy-set man.

Police described the gunman as a 20-year-old Latino male, 5-feet-7 and 170 pounds, with short black hair, wearing a vertically striped dark and light shirt.

His accomplice was described as a 20- to 22-year-old Caucasian, 5-feet-9 to 5-feet-11 and 225 pounds, with medium-length blond or light brown hair. That person wore khaki pants and a black T-shirt.

Police said they believe that the suspect was attempting a common scam of stealing merchandise and trying to return it for a cash refund.