7 days, 73 firearm incidents, 11 security officers shot or stabbed

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Atlanta Georgia February 20th, 2023

During the past seven days, police reported seventy-three incidents involving firearms and security officers.

Some of those incidents involved security engaging in shootouts, firing warning shots, and defending themselves.

During at least eleven of those interactions, the security officers were shot, or stabbed, one fatally.

In Los Angeles, a security officer was involved in a gunbattle after approaching a man who had not paid for his parking in a private parking lot.

The shooting happened on the 9100 block of South Sepulveda Blvd. in the Westchester area, near where several local food trucks had gathered. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department said an armed security guard confronted a man for not paying for parking at the lot across the street from the food vendor gathering.

The confrontation became physical, and the suspect pulled out a firearm and shot the security guard, police said. The security guard then pulled out his own gun and returned fire, hitting the suspect.

They are both expected to survive according to a hospital representative.

A second shooting of a security officer ended in a fatality according to LAPD. The shooting stemmed from a car break-in when the security officer confronted two men, one of them open fire killing the security officer.

LAPD has not made an arrest at this time.

In Houston Texas, an armored truck security officer was shot at a mall during a robbery according to the Houston police department.

A 19-year-old has been arrested in the robbery-shooting, the FBI said.

Ricardo Rodriguez was charged in connection to the shooting that happened at about 3:35 p.m. at 2000 Willowbrook Mall.

Authorities said the teen faces federal charges of interference with commerce by robbery and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Police said the wounded security officer who was shot had a vest on. He was reportedly taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Rodriguez was arrested about 36 hours after the shooting, officials said.

A Sunnyvale California security officer was stabbed while trying to stop a shoplifting at a Safeway store.

28-year-old Joseph Quick Bear Alvarado, was later arrested by police.

The security officer was armed, but did not have time to draw his weapon according to the police report.

A firearm was also used during an armored truck robbery in Shreveport Louisiana last week.

Shreveport police are still investigating the robbery that happened at the Circle K gas station on Bert Kouns.

Police say the driver of that truck was robbed as he was exiting the store Monday evening with an unknown amount of cash. Police searched the area but did not locate a suspect and no arrests have been made.

In Washington DC, police reported that an armed security officer was attacked and stabbed.

Police are asking for the public's help identifying and locating a person they say stabbed the security officer in Northeast D.C. early Sunday morning.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), officers were called to the 1300 block of 2nd Street, NE just before 2:45 a.m.

When officers arrived, they learned an unarmed security guard was escorting the suspect off the property when the suspect reportedly took out a knife and stabbed the security officer before running away. The victim was taken to an area hospital for help and is expected to survive.

In Seat Pleasant Maryland, a security officer attempting to intervene during an armed robbery Monday night was shot according to police.

Police responded to the AutoZone store and found a security officer outside the store with multiple gunshot wounds.

Police learned multiple armed suspects walked into the AutoZone and demanded money from the cashier. A security officer intervened and that’s when they fired shots at him, police said. The security officer who was armed also returned fire, but police do not know if any of the robbers were hit.

Police have not made an arrest and the condition of the security officer is unknown.

Philadelphia police are still looking for the person who shot at a security officer in the downtown area.

A man fired a gun at the security officer who had asked him to leave Dilworth Park on Monday night, the latest shooting in two violent days in Philadelphia.

The 29-year-old security officer had told a group of people to leave the park, police said, and an argument broke out.

One man got into a physical struggle with the security officer, who was unarmed, police said, and then fired two shots at the security officer. The shooter then fled. Police continue to investigate, but no arrests have been made.

Police are also investigating shootings of security officers in St Louis and Baltimore as well as a stabbing of a mall security officer in Minneapolis.

The security officer at was stabbed at Karmel Mall during an altercation with a man he was escorting off the property, according to the Minneapolis Police Department. Police say they responded to a report of a stabbing at the mall at about 7:45 p.m. on Friday.

The security officer suffered non-life-threatening wounds from the stabbing, according to police. The man suspected of stabbing him also suffered non-life-threatening injuries but police did not say how he was injured.

Both were taken to the hospital. Police say the investigation is ongoing.

A security officer working at a restaurant, was shot after a couple fled without paying for their meals.

Dunwoody Georgia police were called to the Sage Woodfire Tavern on Ashford Dunwoody Road in reference to a person shot.

According to authorities, a couple was attempting to leave the restaurant without paying their bill when the security officer was tried to stop them from leaving and a fight occurred, Dunwoody officials say.

The man then allegedly shot the security officer and fled.

The security officer, whose name has not been released, was taken to the hospital. He’s currently stable.

Authorities have not released the names or ages of the couple involved or how much the bill was.

In a number of other incidents involving firearms, police reported that security personnel fired warning shots twice during different incidents and exchanged gunfire at a hotel, and at least three nightclubs.