Two security guards at a downtown Los Angeles shopping plaza were wounded in a gunfight with a man as they tried to stop him from making off with more than $1,000 of stolen merchandise, police said Tuesday.

Two security guards at a Target store in downtown Los Angeles were shot by a suspected shoplifter, leaving one of them in critical condition while the shooter remained at large Tuesday, according to police.

The Los Angeles Police Department released the first images of the suspected gunman who shot two security guards at a downtown Target store Monday evening. According to police, the suspect, a man believed to be in his early 20s,