One killed in Costco shooting in southern California

LOS ANGELES - One person was killed and three others were injured in a shooting incident at a Costco in the city of Corona, 75 km east of downtown Los Angeles, local CBS media reported Friday.

Corona police was quoted by the local Press Enterprise newspaper as saying that officers responded to a call of shots fired at about 7:46 p.m. (0246 GMT on Saturday) and arrived at the scene one minute later. They entered the wholesale warehouse and found four people down.

Two adults with apparent gunshot wounds were taken to the hospital. Police detained the shooter inside the store, then took him to a hospital after he claimed he was injured, police said, adding that the man who was killed had not been identified.

Witnesses told CBS that the fatal shooting occurred after an altercation between a man and a woman with her child inside the membership-only warehouse, where seven to eight gunshot sounds were heard.

Videos and pictures posted online showed that the Costco was evacuated and heavily armed police officers, wearing armor vests while holding rifles, swarmed the area in the aftermath of the shooting.

Police confirmed the incident was "stabilized" at 9:09 p.m. (0409 GMT on Saturday), tweeting "There is no apparent threat to our community from any outstanding persons. We will release more information as we work to confirm the facts."

Many witnesses described the chaotic scene inside the warehouse since shoppers were trying to escape through the store's emergency doors after hearing gun shots but the doors were locked.

"It's not very fun when you're scared and you're running for your life, and you're trying to open a door that says 'emergency' and they don't open," Navi, a shopper, told local KTLA news channel. "Everybody was freaking out. People were falling over each other."

"Everybody's running around," she said. "It's scary."