Shawn Laval Smith, 31, is believed to be “armed and dangerous,” Los Angeles Police Department said in a tweet, warning people to call 911 rather than approach him.
According to a wanted poster, Smith was in Pasadena, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Covina, San Diego, San Francisco, and several other locations in Southern California.
Police urged residents to pay special attention at bus stops and train platforms as “he is most likely to use public transport.”
Officials and the community are offering a $250,000 reward in this case.
Brianna Kupfer, 24, was stabbed to death with a knife before her attacker fled to the store’s back alley last Thursday afternoon, the LAPD said Tuesday.
Just after 1:30 p.m. Kupfer, who had worked alone at the store, wrote to a friend that someone there “put her in a bad mood,” Lt. LAPD’s John Radtke at a press conference. The person who received the text did not see it immediately, he said.
About 15 minutes later, a customer entered the store and found Kupfer “lifeless, bloodied on the floor,” Radtke said.
The attacker was not known to the victim and entered the store by accident, the LAPD said. Police have not released the name of the store but said it is on the 300 block of North La Brea Avenue.
The Pacific Palisades victim was enrolled in advanced courses at UCLA, the university said.
“Brianna was a smart, humorous and kind soul who wanted to improve herself and her community on a daily basis,” her family said in a statement read by a city council member at the press conference. “Though she could be shy at times, she lit up every room she was in and strived to elevate everyone she met so they could be better versions of themselves.”
Her father, Todd Kupfer, told Fox News he didn’t know why she was alone in the store.
He said Brianna is curious about the world and competitive with her three siblings. “She was a great role model, she was very, very caring,” her father said.
“I’m so proud of what she accomplished and where she went.”
The city is expected to offer a $50,000 reward for information leading to the suspect’s arrest and prosecution, and people in the Westside community have donated more than $200,000 for information leading to the suspect’s arrest and conviction of people lead, said city council member Paul Koretz.
The seemingly random and senseless killing of Brianna Kupfer “shook and shook our community to the core,” Koretz said. “We will find this vicious criminal, we will arrest him and we will ensure that he is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he promised.
An “intensive investigation” is underway “and will continue until this man is identified and brought before the criminal justice system,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore said.
“Let me assure you that we are pulling out all the stops in the investigation” to solve the crime, Moore said.
CNN’s Cheri Mossburg and Sarah Moon contributed to this report.
Comments are closed.