DA Aims To Send Message With Charges Against Mall Shooting Suspect

LOS ANGELES, CA — A 25-year-old man was charged with attempted murder Friday in connection with Monday's shoplifting shootings that stunned Los Angeles.

Jabril Metoyer, who was arrested the next day following an hours-long standoff with police, pleaded not guilty Friday morning to three counts of attempted murder and five counts of attempted second-degree robbery. The charges include enhancements — the personal discharge of a firearm, the use of a firearm and great bodily injury — that could lead to a life sentence, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced.

"This morning, my office filed serious charges against a man accused of attempting to shoplift from a Target store and then escalating his actions to a violent attack that left two security guards injured, one critically, by gunfire,” Hochman said. “This kind of brazen thievery and violence is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in Los Angeles County.

The enhancements are designed to send a message, Hochman added.

"In the past four years, if someone engaged in attempted murder using a firearm as part of it, the gun enhancement that would have been applied -- if it would have been applied at all -- would have been a lower gun enhancement," Hochman told reporters at a Friday morning news conference outside the Target store. "We're using a gun enhancement that basically treats this crime as a potential life sentence. And again, we're doing that on purpose because we want to send a very strong message to anyone who thinks they can use a gun in connection with a violent crime, as this has turned out to be, that they will deal with a potential maximum consequence ..."

Metoyer, who is accused of shooting two security guards outside the Target store at the FIGat7th Monday while attemptng to shoplift two suitcases filled with items, is being held in lieu of $4.1 million bail.

He was arrested Tuesday following a brief manhunt when tipsters recognized him from Target security images shared by police.

The Los Angeles Police Department found him at an apartment/hotel building about a half-mile away from the Target store at 735 S. Figueroa St., triggering a standoff that ended when police deployed chemical agents.

According to police, Metoyer exchanged fire with the mall's paid security guard, striking the guard and a Target assets protection officer, who remains hospitalized in critical condition.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said he hoped the charges would bring some comfort to the wounded officer's family.

"I hope that today's announcement brings at least some measure of comfort that this suspect is not ... out there and posing a threat," McDonnell said Friday morning.

“My thoughts are with the injured guards and their families during this difficult time," added Hochman. "I want to assure them, and all residents, that we will use every resource available to bring justice to those who commit such heinous acts. If you engage in criminal behavior that endangers lives and disrupts public safety in LA County, you will face swift and decisive consequences.”

TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH, City News Service contributed to this report.