Teens stabbed at Redondo Beach mall, collapse outside theaters

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Two teens were stabbed inside the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach late Saturday and collapsed near the entrance to the shopping center’s movie theaters, according to media reports.

Police were searching for witnesses and evidence and provided little information on what had happened inside the mall, the Daily Breeze reported.

A manager at the movie complex, which was showing such holiday releases as ‘Les Miserables,’ ‘Jack Reacher’ and ‘Django Unchained,’ told The Times that the mall administration had directed her to close down the theaters.

‘We don’t know anything about it,’ said the woman, who did not give her name. ‘I don’t know what happened. The mall said you need to close down.’

She declined to say whether police ordered people out of the theaters.

The Daily Breeze said the victims, a boy and a girl both under 18, collapsed from their wounds about 7:20 p.m. on the third floor near the center’s movie theaters. They were taken to local hospital for treatment, and their conditions were not immediately clear. Sgt. Shawn Freeman of the Redondo Beach Police told ABC Channel 7 that the mall was never locked down but that people were searched in the mall and as they left.

He said police have a description of the attacker but that the person was still at large.

Channel 7 showed footage of a teenager being rushed by ambulance to a local hospital.

Redondo Beach Police Lt. Joe Hoffman said officers do not know where in the mall the stabbings occurred or the circumstances.

Detectives planned to examine surveillance video to see if the crime was recorded, Hoffman said.

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