USC Village Target customers were evacuated Monday night after a robbery suspect fled into the building.
At around 6 p.m., dozens of students were asked to step outside of Target because of an “emergency situation” after a man caused a disturbance. An Annenberg Media reporter observed him driving his motorbike through the aisles of Target.
Department of Public Safety Assistant Chief David Carlisle confirmed that the man matched the description of a suspect who allegedly robbed the Smart and Final grocery store on Vermont Avenue earlier on the same night. He was loaded in the back of a police car outside of the USC Village.
Alexis Battle, a junior studying business administration, was in Target during the commotion.
“I was by the produce area, and I started hearing screaming,” she said. Battle added that the man “was getting really aggressive, screaming, trying to fight people, throwing stuff.”
“I saw a bunch of police officers come in and they were like, ‘Please leave.’ And they’re escorting everyone, telling people just like leave Target,” she said.
The man was either under the influence of drugs or experiencing a mental health condition, according to Carlisle.
LAPD is still investigating the robbery.
Sullivan Barthel contributed to this reporting.