Safety Officer, Robbery Suspect Die in Shootout : Violence: Off-duty policeman responds to cries during a shoe store robbery in Canoga Park. Witnesses describe gunfight.

An off-duty Los Angeles County safety officer was fatally shot in front of his wife Wednesday night outside a Canoga Park shoe store after trading shots with a robbery suspect who also was shot and later died, police said.

The officer, identified as Thomas Worley, 32, died from gunshot wounds to the groin and upper chest after he confronted the suspected robber, Jesus Valenzuela, about 6:15 p.m. in the parking lot of a Payless ShoeSource at Topanga Canyon and Roscoe boulevards, police and hospital officials said.

“The officer told him to freeze, but the suspect opened fire,” Los Angeles Police Officer Eileen Stuart said. “The officer returned fire, but was struck in the upper torso. He died.”

Los Angeles County safety officers are sworn peace officers who act as armed security for county facilities and parks. Worley, assigned to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, was the 11th peace officer to be gunned down in the last year and a half in Southern California.

Police said the officer, who was not in uniform, confronted Valenzuela, 45, after he heard shouts that the store had been robbed. The officer waited with his wife in the mini-mall parking lot for Valenzuela to leave the store.

Eyewitness Jessica Eskiewicz, 18, of Woodland Hills was walking through the parking lot when shooting broke out.

“I saw someone running out of Payless and people yelling, ‘He robbed the store!’ ” Eskiewicz said. She then heard “six or seven gunshots” and headed over to look. “They were delayed shots. It seemed to last a couple of minutes,” she added.

A man who declined to give his name witnessed the fight from a Mobil gas station across the street. “We saw two people on the (ground),” the man said. “All the cops were all over (the officer) giving CPR. The Hispanic guy, he was bleeding all over the place from the stomach.”

The man said a woman stood over the dying officer. “She was saying, ‘Please breathe, please.’ They were giving him CPR,” he said.

Worley was rushed to Nu-Med Regional Medical Center, less than a block away, where he died about 7:20 p.m. Valenzuela was rushed to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he died in surgery.

“He was talking and then he died fairly quickly,” Officer Michael Braun said of Valenzuela, who died from internal bleeding after a bullet pierced his liver.

Deputy Police Chief Martin H. Pomeroy said Worley was responding to cries for help when he confronted Valenzuela. “Apparently the suspect had loot with him when the shooting occurred,” he said.

“I think this officer acted heroically,” Pomeroy said.

Sgt. Roger Ferguson said safety officers are allowed to carry firearms when they are off duty.

Times staff writers Abigail Goldman, Jeannette Regalado, Nicholas Riccardi and Julie Tamaki and correspondent Kay Hwangbo contributed to this story.