K mart Employee Shot in Holdup by 2 Gunmen

An assistant manager of a K mart store in South-Central Los Angeles was slightly wounded Tuesday morning when two gunmen forced their way into the store’s vault and took an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.

Los Angeles Police Capt. Gary Brennan said the gunmen entered the store at Vermont and Slauson avenues when it opened at 9 a.m., overpowered two security guards, tied them up and ordered an assistant manager to open the store’s vault. After the pair took the money, one of them fired a shot at the assistant manager, nicking him in the neck, Brennan said.

Officers, believing the gunmen were still inside the store, sealed off the area and conducted a two-hour search, but the pair escaped, Brennan said. K mart officials declined comment on the incident.