Suspect detained in shooting at Hollywood and Highland shopping complex

A man who allegedly shot a security guard three times during a dispute at the popular Hollywood & Highland shopping complex Monday afternoon was arrested by Los Angeles police as he tried to slip through a perimeter officers had set up in the area after the shooting, authorities said.

LAPD Capt. Steve Lurie, commander of the Hollywood division, said the suspect fled the scene heading northbound on Highland Avenue after opening fire on the security guard at close range, returned to a hotel room where he was staying in the immediate area and changed his clothing to evade capture.

But “some heads-up police officer who had seen the video recognized his face and detained him,” Lurie said.

The man, who was not named, was identified as the gunman by several witnesses to the shooting, Lurie said.

Police were initially called to the area about 4:25 p.m., after the suspect got into a verbal dispute with employees at a Shoe Palace store and then opened fire on a security guard who tried to escort him out, Lurie said.

The guard was shot twice in the belly and once in the hip, Lurie said, but was “sitting up and talking to paramedics” as he was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, Lurie said

Lurie said police are investigating the nature of the dispute between the man and the employees of the store.

He said a semiautomatic pistol believed to be the gun used in the shooting was recovered from the suspect’s hotel room.