Police say Costco shooting came after man hit off-duty LA police officer

CORONA, Calif. -- The Corona Police Department says a fatal shooting inside a Costco warehouse store Friday night took place after a 32-year-old man attacked an off-duty police officer.

The department says in a statement that Kenneth French of Riverside assaulted the Los Angeles Police Department officer while he was holding his young child. The statement goes on to say that the officer fired his gun, hitting French and two of French's relatives. The relatives are in critical conditions at hospitals.

The department says the officer, whose identity is being withheld, was treated and released at a nearby hospital, and the officer's child was not injured.

LAPD released the following statement:

The Los Angeles Police Department has learned that one of our off-duty patrol officers assigned to Southwest Division was involved in a shooting in Corona Friday night. Our officer suffered minor injuries in the incident and was transported to a local hospital where he was treated and released. The Department has initiated an Administrative Investigation and is working with the Corona Police Department to learn more about the incident.

Multiple witnesses said they heard gunshots around 7:45 p.m. while shopping at the store. They said there was chaos after shots were fired. People ran to escape, but the doors were reportedly locked, which added to the panic.

"I heard pop, pop, pop, and then look, she almost broke her hand trying to open the emergency doors," said one witness, who added that he was right by the shooting when it occurred inside the store.

Another shopper captured the mayhem that was heard in the aftermath of the shooting.

Footage from AIR7 HD showed the large police presence at the warehouse store after it was evacuated. Following the law enforcement response, Corona police confirmed the shooting incident was stabilized, and there was no threat to the public.

Corona police confirmed four people were found injured inside the Costco. One died from his injuries at the scene, while three others were taken to local hospitals in unknown condition.

No identities were immediately released. Police said the name of the deceased won't be released until the Riverside County coroner notifies family.

An investigation is ongoing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.