Police hold 2 after standoff at California Target store

Police seek third suspect

CULVER CITY, California (CNN) -- Two suspects are in custody after they held about 60 Target store employees hostage Monday morning in what police say was a botched robbery attempt.

No shots were fired and no injuries were reported during the standoff, which ended less than three hours after it began.

Police were looking for a third suspect at a nearby building complex. Police originally detained three suspects, but one was released after being identified as a store employee.

The would-be robbers -- two of them dressed in Target uniforms -- entered the store about 5 a.m. as employees prepared for its scheduled opening about three hours later.

Police search a man who came out of the Target store Monday in Culver City, California. They searched everyone who exited the store to establish their identities

Target corporate spokeswoman Patty Morris told CNN the ordeal began during a time when the store's alarm system is turned off to allow the shift change from overnight support staff to daytime sales personnel.

Police were called between 5 and 5:30 a.m. by an employee who apparently had escaped shortly after the gunmen entered the store, which is in Culver City about 14 miles southwest of Los Angeles.

Randi Joseph, Culver City public information officer, said the robbers were "startled" when police arrived and the "robbery stopped in progress."

At least two suspects were taken into custody shortly after the drama began, when about 15 to 20 people were briefly detained as they fled through the back of the building.

Joseph would not rule out the possibility that one or more of the suspects was a past or present store employee.

"It's our understanding that someone knew when the alarms were turned off and when the perfect time to come in was," said Joseph.

As the drama unfolded, police blocked exits with squad cars while the perimeter was patrolled by heavily armed SWAT team officers wearing body armor.

When asked what the suspects were after, Culver City spokeswoman Randi Joseph replied, "Money. That's usually what robbers are after"

Police escorted about 40 remaining people from the building just before 8 a.m. (11 a.m. EST) to a waiting bus, where they were to be questioned further about the ordeal.

Joseph said no weapons were immediately recovered but that a "systematic search" of the building was being conducted in an effort to uncover weapons and other evidence.

When asked what she thought what may have been the motive for the incident, Joseph replied, "Money. That's usually what robbers are after."

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Culver City
Los Angeles Sheriff's Department
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