One Trader Joe's Employee Killed During Armed Standoff in Los Angeles

A Trader Joe’s employee died during a standoff in Los Angeles on Saturday, according to CNN.

The suspect is now in custody after holding the grocery store hostage for several hours before surrendering to the Los Angeles Police Department. Per CNN, about 40 people were in the Silver Lake neighborhood Trader Joe's when the suspect ran in armed.

Police were chasing the suspect following a separate incident where he reportedly shot his grandmother seven times and fled in her vehicle. He crashed the car attempting to escape police, firing at officers before running into the nearby grocery store. His grandmother is reportedly in critical condition.

"Then this guy comes out of the car and starts running toward TJs," 91-year-old witness Don Kohles told CNN, referring to the grocery store. "I look behind me and there were two police guys coming with heavy guns, then boom boom boom boom, so I go into TJ's and I see this guy and he comes in.”

"And I see the two front glass doors shot out. I look around and I see a TJ's employee laying on the ground, then all the help was laying on the ground," he continued. "We all laid there for about a half an hour until LAPD came and got us out. They helped carry me across the parking lot and they sort of tossed me over a wall.”

Several people ran out of the store when the 28-year-old man entered. Police surrounded the building during the three-hour standoff and several other customers were able to leave the store with their hands up. Other employees escaped through the back of the store.

Trader Joe’s employee Melyda Corado died during the standoff, though her cause of death remains unclear. She worked at the store for several years. "She was the person I loved the most in the world. She was never anyone but herself for better or worse, she was herself," her brother Albert Corado told CNN.

The suspect eventually turned himself into police after talking with negotiators.